Event
UMERC Special Seminar: Interfacial Phenomena in Li-Ion and Li-S Batteries
Friday, March 10, 2017
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Zupnik Lecture Hall, Room 1110, Jeong H. Kim Engineering Bldg
Catherine Stephens
301 405 9378
csteph5@umd.edu
http://umerc.umd.edu
Interfacial Phenomena in Li-Ion and Li-S Batteries
Prof. Perla B. Balbuena
Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843
Efficient energy storage is essential for the success of renewable energies, and electrochemical cells are among the best options to address this challenge. Electrochemical cells are complex systems integrated by several materials and their corresponding interfaces whose physical-chemical behavior is dominated by highly coupled mass and electron transport and chemical/electrochemical reactions. In this talk we will discuss physical, chemical, and electrochemical phenomena occurring at solid/electrolyte interfaces of Li-ion batteries and how the methods of firstprinciples computational analysis may be used to understand them and suggest strategies for practical solutions. In particular, we will refer to the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) occurring due to electrolyte reduction on anode surfaces and the role of the nature of the solvents and additives on the resultant SEI properties and battery performance. Also, we will analyze the effect of chemical species generated at the cathode and migrating to the anode during cycling on the formation of passivation layers and battery performance for Li/S cells.
Biosketch: Dr. Perla Balbuena received her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1996. She was Assistant and then Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina from 1997 to 2004, when she was appointed full professor at Texas A&M University, in the Department of Chemical Engineering. She holds the Gas Processors Suppliers Association Professorship and also has a joint appointment with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and with the Department of Chemistry. Dr. Balbuena’s expertise is on the application of first principles computational methods to the analysis of physical and chemical properties of materials. Specifically her research focuses on reaction and interfacial phenomena taking place in materials and interfaces of batteries and fuel cells, as well as in catalytic processes. She has published 234 peer-reviewed articles that were cited more than 9000 times and has an h-index of 49 according to Google Scholar. In 2013 she was elected AAAS Fellow “for distinguished contributions to the theory of interfacial processes, through molecular simulation of electrochemical reactions and materials properties at the nanoscale.”
