Trisha Andrew
University of Massachusetts, MA·Chemistry
Nearly all commercial batteries shuttle positively charged ions, such as lithium, between two electrodes. An alternative stores charge with negative ions instead, specifically halides like chloride and fluoride.
- Fields
Chemistry
Materials Science
Engineering
- Topics
halide ion batteries
chloride ion battery
fluoride ion battery
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Dec 2027
What they work on
- Grow thick, conductive chloride-storing polymer electrodes by oxidative chemical vapor deposition and test whether they achieve high volumetric chloride storage capacity.
- Form gel and solid-membrane electrolytes by photoinitiated chemical vapor deposition, in which light starts polymer growth, and show that controlled mesh size yields high chloride conductivity.
- Determine whether the oxidative and light-initiated deposition chemistries are compatible with fluoride salts, as a route to materials for fluoride-ion batteries.
- Produce experimentally validated design guidelines for polymer battery materials through thin-film and electrochemical characterization, with machine learning used to predict promising electrode structures.
More about the research
On paper these cells offer high energy density, low flammability, and little risk of dendrites, the metal spikes that can short a cell. Their ingredients could be sourced locally, and they are promising as power sources compatible with the body. Polymers, the long-chain molecules used in plastics, are candidate electrodes and electrolytes for such cells, but today's polymer versions neither hold enough chloride nor conduct it quickly, and no design rules exist for improving them.
Why it matters
Safer, high-energy storage that avoids scarce imported materials is a practical need for grid and portable power, and halide-based cells are one route to it. Validated design rules for vapor-grown polymer electrodes and electrolytes could accelerate chloride- and fluoride-ion battery development and inform the broader electrochemical materials community, including work on biocompatible power sources.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
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The school
University of Massachusetts: 28 labs on PI Pages, $282M a year on research, 337 research doctorates a year.
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