Collaborative Research: DMREF: Accelerated Data-Driven Discovery of Ion-Conducting Materials

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NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARYOxides with fast ion-conduction are crucial components for a wide range of applications including batteries and solid-oxide fuel cells, which are needed for societal adoption of renewable energy technologies. However, progress in the research and development of ion-conducting ceramics has been sluggish, as time-consuming synthesis and sintering act as a bottleneck to new materials discovery. The project team will leverage their ultra-high-temperature synthesis technique that can rapidly sinter oxide materials in about 10 seconds, integrated with computational modeling and high-throughput measurements, to accelerate the discovery and design of novel oxide materials. The integrated closed-loop framework will advance a general paradigm for materials design and discovery in a fraction of the time of conventional discovery. Through this project, novel sodium-ion conducting materials will be discovered, which can be used for sodium batteries as economic, environmental-friendly, and sustainable alternatives to lithium-ion batteries for renewable energy storage. In addition, this project will leverage the interdisciplinary research program to create unique educational opportunities for a diverse group of graduate, undergraduate, K-12 students, and under-represented minorities. TECHNICAL SUMMARYThis project will integrate high-temperature rapid synthesis of ceramics with first-principles data-driven computation, high-throughput measurements, materials characterization, and microstructural modeling into a closed-loop framework to significantly accelerate the discovery and design of new ceramic oxide materials using sodium-ion conductors as model systems. The integrated closed-loop approach will advance an effective and general paradigm that comprehensively considers the complex interdependence among composition, sintering, microstructure, and properties for materials design and discovery in a fraction of the time of conventional discovery. The project will lead to improved understanding of the composition-sintering-microstructure-property relationships for a wide range of oxide materials, which will be of scientific value for guiding future research of new oxides. Education and outreach activities will be developed and undertaken in conjunction with the proposed research activities. In the spirit of Materials Genome Initiative (MGI), the education and outreach efforts will emphasize the unique components of data-driven closed-loop materials design as essential training for the next-generation MGI workforce.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.