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Applied Physical Sciences, Research Talk: Dr. Julia Yang, Harvard University
Monday, January 8 @ 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Dr. Julia H. Yang
Environmental Fellow, Harvard University
Monday, January 8, 2024, 11:00am-12:30pm
Chapman Hall, Room 125
Atom-by-Atom Design of Sustainable Energy Storage Solutions
Abstract:
Rechargeable Li-ion batteries are essential for reaching Net Zero Emissions by 2050. However, growing restrictions on critical materials used in these devices mean that development of sustainable battery materials and robust recycling methods are increasingly urgent.
Thermodynamic models connecting structure-property relations are needed to understand and generate rational design principles. In this talk, I will explain how relaxing structural constraints for conventional electrodes, presumed to lead to sluggish Li diffusion, in fact results in electrodes with both ultrahigh power and energy density. Comprised of only earth-abundant Mn, these materials deliver specific energies greater than 900 Wh kg-1 within minutes. I explain how lithiation in these electrodes occurs via a single-phase, solid solution reaction, and how excellent rate capability arises from a newly activated inter-network pathway which moves Li in its regular intra-network pathway. Our findings indicate that incorporating partial spinel order is essential for accommodating ultrahigh rate performance in earth-abundant electrodes.
To attain a sustainable energy transition, methods to upcycle end-of-life batteries will need to be carefully developed. I conclude with a working critique on green solvents which have been experimentally demonstrated to recover cobalt and other transition metals with high efficiency.
Bio:
Dr. Julia H. Yang (she/her/hers) is an Environmental Fellow at Harvard University Center for the Environment advised by Boris Kozinsky since July 2022. She earned a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from UC Berkeley in 2022 advised by Gerbrand Ceder and a BS in Materials Science and Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, with an additional major in Physics (Applied Physics track), in 2016.