CAREER: Microstructural Engineering of Solid Composite Electrolytes through Process Manipulation

University Of Colorado At Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs CO

Investigators

Abstract

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant supports research that will provide critical, fundamental relationships between processing and microstructure in solid electrolyte systems. Findings under this award will promote national prosperity through advanced energy system production in many fields ranging from energetic materials to structural batteries. Structural batteries (i.e., a battery that can bear mechanical load) are an attractive option to improve electric vehicle viability as they replace hazardous liquid electrolytes with a solid counterpart. These solid electrolytes typically combine electroactive polymers and ceramics to enhance battery durability and electrical performance. However, the production of highly conductive, mechanically robust solid-state batteries is currently impossible due to the significant knowledge gaps concerning the manufacturing history – microstructure link. This award supports integrated experiments and modeling to uncover the impact of manufacturing history (e.g., temperature, cure conditions, and shear rate) on the interface between the electroactive polymer and ceramic in solid composite electrolytes. This interface determines how an electrolyte composite behaves mechanically and ionically. By understanding interface formation mechanisms, structural battery performance can be designed during the manufacturing stage, thus informing industrial processes at all scales to tune and enhance structural battery performance through microstructural manipulation. This project also aims to strengthen science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) career accessibility by introducing caregivers to manufacturing science and increasing accessibility of undergraduate research to this population that faces high barriers. This will be accomplished with course-based undergraduate research experiences, enhancing caregiver support for undergraduate research scholars, and reaching into the community to support parents of first-generation STEM scholars. This project aims to unveil a mechanistic understanding of microstructural development in controlled manufacturing conditions to tune bulk response in composite electrolytes. The research objectives will be accomplished through a multi-scale investigation to fill knowledge gaps in the manufacturing-microstructure-performance lifecycle. The research team will perform coupled rheology and spectroscopy to examine molecular interactions between polymer and ceramic regarding interface formation, utilize atomic force microscopy techniques to quantify interface size both mechanically and electrically, and perform ionic conductivity measurements on electrolyte specimens under mechanical load to tie nano-scale effects to bulk performance. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.