The dramatic increase in electrical energy consumption requires additional energy sources. Advanced energy storage from renewable resources will lower CO2 emissions and can replace a significant part of fossil fuel use. Current materials used for electrochemical storage (i.e., in batteries) exhibit slow kinetics and undergo undesirable chemical reactions after repeated cycling, which impacts their useful lifetime. To improve this storage, we need to reach a sufficient understanding of ionic intercalation, particularly its kinetics, in solids to define guidelines for the design and synthesis of materials with improved intercalation kinetics. The Inorganic solid-state materials for Energy application lab will study how specific structural motifs influence ion intercalation within transition metal oxides and oxyfluorides. By combining advanced materials synthesis, structural characterization, and electrochemical analysis, including operando techniques, we can find the fundamental structural characteristics required for future electrochemical energy storage materials.
We will use a fundamental approach to pave the way towards achieving sustainable future energy technologies that utilize green energy resources.