James Penner-Hahn
University of Michigan, MI·Chemistry
Electric vehicles need batteries that store more energy, cost less and are safer. Lithium/sulfur (Li/S) batteries, which pair a lithium metal anode with a sulfur cathode, could in principle let an electric vehicle drive about five times farther than conventional lithium-ion batteries of the same weight.
- Fields
Chemistry
Materials Science
Engineering
- Topics
lithium-sulfur battery
Li/S battery
solid-state battery
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2027
What they work on
- Clarify reaction mechanisms in sulfur composite cathodes that use the garnet solid electrolyte LLZO, using model systems, electroanalytical techniques, and in operando and ex-situ X-ray analyses that track chemistry during and after battery operation.
- Determine the fundamental thermodynamic and kinetic parameters that control the electrochemical reactions of sulfur at the interface between carbon, sulfur and the solid LLZO electrolyte in solid-state lithium/sulfur batteries.
- Investigate how particle size, shape, surface properties and mass loading of components in sulfur/LLZO composite cathodes affect battery performance, to guide rational electrode design.
More about the research
Two problems hold them back. During operation, compounds called lithium polysulfides form in the liquid electrolyte and cause damage. That liquid electrolyte is also flammable. Solid-state Li/S batteries use a non-flammable solid electrolyte that limits polysulfide formation better than liquids, but they perform poorly. A major reason is that the interface between the electrode and the solid electrolyte is not well understood.
Why it matters
Better batteries could extend driving range and improve the safety and cost of electric vehicles. By explaining what limits the interface in solid-state lithium/sulfur batteries, this work could guide cathode designs for batteries that are non-flammable and avoid polysulfide problems. That could help battery and automotive makers develop higher-energy storage for decarbonizing transportation.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Md Mahbubul Islam
Wayne State University, MI·Materials Science·Early-career
Predict how structure relates to catalytic activity for single-atom catalysts on nitride MXenes and transition metal oxides in Mg-CO2 batteries, using density functional theory combined with machine learning.
Zheng Fan
University of Houston, TX·Engineering·Early-career
Measure and explain the microstructural and chemical changes in a metal-carbon mixed ionic-electronic conductor (c-MIEC) interlayer as lithium fills its pores, using automated in situ diagnostics.
Dongchang Chen
University of New Mexico, NM·Chemistry
Identify which large oligomer molecules, formed when carbonate ester solvents link together, populate the solid-electrolyte and cathode-electrolyte interphases, using MALDI mass spectrometry on a series of model electrodes.
The school
University of Michigan: 124 labs on PI Pages, $2.1B a year on research, 963 research doctorates a year.
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