Development and characterization of materials for electrochemical energy storage

近年来，公众对绿色房屋气体排放导致的全球气候变化的认识显著提高。在促进低碳经济方面已作出了很大努力。 高效电能存储（EES）设备是实现这一目标的关键组成部分。EES设备是用于存储化学或物理能量的介质，这些能量可以在以后转换回电能。EES技术很重要，因为它们有可能促进各种可再生发电源的大规模部署;例如，在电动车辆（EV）和混合动力电动车辆（HEV）中。EES器械的开发和商业化受到与这些器械的制造、操作和长期可靠性相关的许多材料工程问题的限制。 所有这些问题都与表面和界面有关，需要深入了解各种材料之间的相互作用以及在相关表面发生的任何反应。拟议研究的主要重点是EES应用的新型材料的开发和表征。拟议的工作将涉及两个重点领域：开发用于金属-空气的新型电极材料（例如，锌-空气）电池和固体氧化物燃料电池（SOFC）阳极组件的长期微观结构变化。

Public awareness of global climate change resulting from green house gas emission has increased significantly in recent years. Much effort has been spent on promoting a low carbon economy. High efficiency electrical energy storage (EES) devices are a key component in reaching this goal. EES devices are the media used to store chemical or physical energy that can be later converted back to electricity. EES technologies are important as they have the potential to facilitate large-scale deployment of various renewable electricity generation sources; e.g., in electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). EES device development and commercialization are limited by a number of materials engineering issues related to the fabrication, operation and long term reliability of these devices. All these issues are surface and interface related, requiring an in-depth understanding of the interactions among the various materials and any reactions that occur at the relevant surfaces. The main focus of the proposed research is the development and characterization of novel materials for EES applications. The proposed work will involve two focus areas: the development of novel electrode materials for metal-air (e.g., Zn-air) batteries and long term microstructural changes in the anode component of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs).