Scientists from the Northeastern Center for Chemical Energy Storage at Stony Brook University (NECCES) have developed methods of examining lithium-ion reactions in real-time with nano-scale precision. Their research, funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) via the NECCES, was reported in Tracking lithium transport and electrochemical reactions in nanoparticles, published in the recent issue of Nature Communications.
Researchers involved in the project include lead author Feng Wang, Hui-Chia Yu, Min-Hua Chen, Lijun Wu, Nathalie Pereira, Katsuyo Thornton, Anton Van der Ven, Yimei Zhu, Glenn G. Amatucci and Jason Graetz.
“ We’ve opened a fundamentally new window into this popular technology,” said physicist Feng Wang. “The live, nano-scale imaging may help pave the way for developing longer-lasting, higher-capacity lithium-ion batteries. That means better consumer electronics and the potential for large-scale, emission-free energy storage.”
The NECCES, a DOE Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC), is an effort being led by Stony Brook University, and includes as partners Rutgers University, MIT, Binghamton University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University of Michigan, and the University of California at San Diego. The Center supports basic research in the design of the next generation of lithium-ion batteries, which requires both the development of new chemistries and the fundamental understanding of the physical and chemical processes that occur in these complex systems.