Materials Chemistry for EnergyBuddie Mullins
3. Anode Materials for Li-Ion Batteries for Large-Scale Use
1. Nano-Structured Materials for Solar Photoelectrochemical Water-Splitting for H2 Fuel
Green Chemical Catalysiswith Nano-Structured Surfaces
Prof. Bard
Prof. Henkelman
Prof. Heller Prof. Manthiram
Prof. Hwang
UT-Austin
Iron Oxide Nano-Columns
Gold Clusters on Titania
2.
Solar Photoelectrochemical Water-Splitting with “Abundant” Materials
(a) SEM – Side View (b) TEM
1 1 mm1 1 mm50 nm50 nm50 nm50 nm
h
PhotocatalyticMaterial
Section of Single FeatheryNanocolumn
OH- ½O2Solution“Feathery Filament”From Nanocolumn
H+
H2 h
PhotocatalyticMaterial
Section of Single FeatheryNanocolumn
OH- ½O2Solution“Feathery Filament”From Nanocolumn
H+
H2
Reactive Gas Flux
Metal Flux
Metal Vapor
Reactive Gas Background
Substrateθ
Film
Substrate
Reactive Gas Flux
Metal Flux
Metal Vapor
Reactive Gas Background
Substrateθ
Film
Substrate
1. Pick “Candidate”Abundant, Metal-Oxide Photoelectrocatalysts
2. Rapid SynthesisAnd Screening
3. Deposit PromisingMetal-Oxide
Materials with Nano-Structured
Morphology
4. CharacterizeMaterial
5. TestPhotoelectrochemically
Green Chemical Catalysis with Nano-Structured Surfaces
Gold Clusters on Metal-Oxide Surface
Exploratory studies ofcatalysis/“surface chemistry”- green processing, fuel cells and fundamental insights.
Nano-Structured Titanium Carbide Film which has Pt-like Catalytic Properties.
Tools
Experimental Surface Science Investigations
Examples
Density Functional Calculationswith Dr.’s Henkelman and Hwang
Anode Materials for Li-Ion Batteriesfor Large-Scale Use
Carbon is typically used as the Anode in Li-Ion batteries but safety issues persist for large-scale applications.
Need alternate material with:
•Low voltage•High capacity•High Li transport•Good electron conductor•Small volume change•Low cost abundant material•Non-toxic and environmentally
benign•etc.
Our approach involves rapid sampledeposition and screening of selectproperties, e.g., Li transport and capacity, then full testing of promisingmaterials.