Please consider attending the following:

MATERIALS ENGINEERING

SEMINAR

“Modeling Charged Grain Boundaries in Lithium-ion Cathode Materials”

By

Jarrod M. Lund

Purdue MSE Ph.D. Preliminary Exam

Advisor: Professor R. Edwin García

ABSTRACT

Modern and future technologies such as cell phones, laptops, electric vehicles, and renewable energies are increasingly dependent on the availability of efficient, long lasting batteries. To achieve these desired properties, batteries must be designed at every length scale, from atomistic chemistry to the macroscopic interactions between components. This paper reviews models which analyze the impact of grain boundaries on conductivity. In particular, the Debye-H¨uckel model defined the length of the space charge layer, the Mott-Schottky model showed how immobile dopants increased the space charge layer’s width. The Gouy-Chapman model used two defects of opposite charge polarity to minimize the space charge layer. Recently, the Mebane-DeSouza model included non-dilute effects for the first time, while the Vikrant-Chueh-Garcíamodel showed how mechanical effects influence electrochemical properties. By expanding the Vikrant-Chueh-García model to incorporate non-idealities in other materials, a new phase field model of the grain boundary is developed to help in the optimization of the space charge layer in high power applications.

Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Time: 5:00 P.M.

Place: ARMS 1021