New solid state electrolytes for fuel cell and Li ion battery applications

燃料电池和电池是将化学能以非常高的效率转化为电能的电化学电池。这些技术走在了新电源的前沿，因为它们不仅提供了广泛的应用，而且是“绿色”电源。电池可以为从起搏器到消费电子产品的各种设备提供电力，并且完全自给自足，是真正的零温室气体排放设备。燃料电池具有极高的效率，可以将燃料(如天然燃料和氢气)直接转化为电能，并为从便携式电子产品到固定发电厂的任何东西提供动力。然而，我们仍然缺乏对这两种技术的完全了解，在基于这两种技术创建大型分布式能源网络的可能性可行之前，还需要进一步的研究。燃料电池技术，包括固体氧化物和质子交换膜燃料电池，仍然过于昂贵，无法被广泛接受和大规模生产。在我们的工作中，我们将为这两种技术开发材料，并更好地了解它们的功能特性。本研究的目标是通过深入了解类钙钛矿型金属氧化物、有机插层层状钙钛矿型固体酸以及磷酸锂和金属氧化物复合材料的离子传导机制和电化学稳定性，开发出高导电性的固体质子导体。制备高导电性和稳定性的固体电解质是长期稳定的质子传导燃料电池和高能量密度全固态锂离子电池成功商业化的关键一步。我的研究项目将培养大量的研究生、本科生和博士后，让他们在固态材料研究及其应用于新能源相关创新方面都有实践经验。

Fuel cells and batteries are electrochemical cells that convert chemical energy into electrical energy with very high efficiency. These technologies are at the forefront of new power sources because they not only offer a broad range of applications, but also are 'green' power sources. Batteries can provide power to devices ranging from pacemakers to consumer electronics and are completely self contained, a true 'zero' greenhouse gas emission device. Fuel cells offer the advantages of being extremely efficient at converting fuels, such as natural and hydrogen, directly to electricity and power anything from portable electronics to stationary power plants. However, we still lack a complete understanding of both of these technologies and require further research before the possibility of creating a large distributive energy network based on either of these technologies is feasible. Fuel cell technology, including solid oxide and proton exchange membrane fuel cells, is still too expensive to be broadly accepted and mass-produced. In our work, we will develop materials for both of these technologies and develop a better understanding of their functional properties. The goals of the proposed research are to develop highly conductive solid state proton conductors based on perovskite-like metal oxides, organic intercalated layered perovskite-type solid acids and composites of Li phosphate and metal oxides through a deep understanding of their ionic conduction mechanism and electrochemical stability. Generating highly conductive and stable solid-state electrolytes is a key step towards the successful commercialization of both long-term stable proton conducting fuel cells and high energy density all-solid-state Li ion batteries. My research program will train a significant number of graduate, undergraduate and postdoctoral students, giving all of them "hands-on" experience in solid-state materials research and its application to new energy-related innovations.