Nanocomposites for Energy Storage Electrodes: High Power, High Energy, High Strength (invited)
Gleb Yushin (Georgia Institute of Technolog)
Lithium ion batteries: When Chemistry meets Mechanics
Tue 9:00 - 10:30
Salomon 003
High power energy storage devices, such as supercapacitors and Li-ion batteries, are critical for the development of zero-emission electrical vehicles, large scale smart grid, and energy efficient ships and locomotives. The energy storage characteristics of supercapacitors and Li-ion batteries are mostly determined by the specific capacities of their electrodes, while their power characteristics are influenced by the maximum rate of the ion and electron transport. The talk will focus on the development of nanocomposite electrodes capable to improve both the energy and power storage characteristics of the state of the art devices. Carbon-polymer, carbon-semiconductor, carbon-metal oxide and metal-metal oxide nanocomposites have been demonstrated to greatly exceed the specific capacitance of traditional electrodes for supercapacitors and Li-ion batteries. Selected materials showed the unprecedented ultra-fast charging and discharging characteristics. Stable performance for 100-2,000 cycles has been demonstrated for battery electrodes and for over 50,000 cycles for supercapacitor electrodes. The talk will provide several examples of multifunctional electrode materials demonstrating excellent energy storage capacities, high power performance, high flexibility and ultra-high specific strength (up to 400 kNm/kg) and modulus of toughness (up to 100 MJ/m^3).