Materials Science Research Lecture

***Refreshments at 3:45pm in Noyes lobby

Abstract:

Point defect-mediated properties in complex oxides, particularly chemical expansivity, catalytic activity, and ionic conductivity, govern performance of solid-state electrochemical energy devices. Therefore, we approach materials design and discovery with a view to control defect chemical behavior. This presentation will demonstrate both systematic experiments on model compositions and high-throughput screening methods to uncover design principles and materials that can extend the efficiency or lifetime of fuel cells, electrolyzers, and all-solid-state batteries. In one example, we have developed near-zero-chemical-strain electrodes and membranes for enhanced durability by tailoring features of the metal-oxygen bonding that control the defect-mediated chemo-mechanical coupling. In a second example, we have dramatically increased the oxygen surface exchange coefficient of fuel cell/electrolyzer electrodes - critical for efficiency - by orders of magnitude through an in-situ crystallization route that preserves a pristine surface chemistry and evolves defect populations that support facile charge transfer. Lastly, for Li-ion batteries, we have developed a defect-focused descriptor filter to identify (from ~20,000 candidates in the Materials Project database) air-stable superionic solid electrolytes with intrinsic Li sublattice disorder and compatibility with high/low voltage electrodes. High-throughput characterization methods and low-thermal-budget processing routes for solid-state ionic materials developed in the course of the work will be addressed.

More about the Speaker:

Nicola H. Perry is an associate professor in Materials Science and Engineering at UIUC. She received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 2009, for investigating interfacial transport behavior in nano-ionics. She held postdoctoral positions at Northwestern University and then jointly between Kyushu University and MIT, working on inverse design of p-type transparent conductors, synthesis of missing materials, and dynamic behavior of mixed ionic/electronic conductors. From 2014-2017 she served as a World Premier Initiative assistant professor in the International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research at Kyushu University and a Research Affiliate at MIT. She joined UIUC in 2018, where her solid-state-ionics research group targets the design and discovery of point defect-mediated properties in opto-electro-chemo-mechanically active oxides and halides for electrochemical energy applications (batteries, electrolyzers, fuel cells). Research recognitions include a DOE Early Career Award, NSF CAREER Award, J. Bruce Wagner Jr. Award from ECS, Edward C. Henry and Richard M. Fulrath Awards from ACerS, and a Principal Investigator Development in Sustainability Award from ACS.