A. James Clark School of Engineering
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.
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Item ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF ELECTROCHEMICAL-MECHANICAL COUPLING ON CURRENT DISTRIBUTION AND DENDRITE PREVENTION IN SOLID-STATE ALKALI METAL BATTERIES(2023) Carmona, Eric Alvaro; Albertus, Paul; Chemical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The relationship between mechanical stress states and interfacial electrochemical thermodynamics of Li metal/Li6.5La3Zr1.5Ta0.5O12 and Na metal/Na-β”-Al2O3 systems are examined in two experimental configurations with an applied uniaxial load; the solid electrolytes were pellets and the metal electrodes high-aspect-ratio electrodes. Our experimental results demonstrate that (1) the change in equilibrium potential at the metal/electrolyte interface, when stress is applied to the metal electrode, is linearly proportional to the molar volume of the metal electrode, and (2) the mechanical stress in the electrolyte has negligible effect on the equilibrium potential for an experimental setup in which the electrolyte is stressed and the electrode is left unstressed. Solid mechanics modeling of a metal electrode on a solid electrolyte pellet indicates that pressure and normal stress are within ~0.5 MPa of each other for the high aspect ratio (~1:100 thickness:diameter in our study) Li metal electrodes under loads that exceed yield conditions. To assess the effect of electrochemical-mechanical coupling on current distributions at Li/single-ion conducting solid ceramic electrolyte interfaces containing a parameterized interfacial geometric asperity, we develop a coupled electrochemical-mechanical model and carefully distinguish between the thermodynamic and kinetic effects of interfacial mechanics on the current distribution. We find that with an elastic-perfectly plastic model for Li metal, and experimentally relevant mechanical initial and boundary conditions, the stress variations along the interface for experimentally relevant stack pressures and interfacial geometries are small (e.g., <1 MPa), resulting in a small or negligible influence of the interfacial mechanical state on the interfacial current distribution for both plating and stripping. However, we find that the current distribution is sensitive to interface geometry, with sharper (i.e., smaller tip radius of curvature) asperities experiencing greater current focusing. In addition, the effect on the current distribution of an identically sized lithium peak vs. valley geometry is not the same. These interfacial geometry effects may lead to void formation on both stripping and plating and at both Li peaks and valleys. This work advances the quantitative understanding of alkali metal dendrite formation within incipient cracks and their subsequent growth, and pore formation upon stripping, both situations where properly accounting for the impact of mechanical state on the equilibrium potential can be of critical importance for calculating the current distribution. The presence of high-curvature interface geometry asperities provides an additional perspective on the superior cycling performance of flat, film-based separators (e.g., sputtered LiPON) versus particle-based separators (e.g., polycrystalline LLZO) in some conditions.Item Assessing the Thermal Safety and Thermochemistry of Lithium Metal All-Solid-State Batteries Through Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Modeling(2023) Johnson, Nathan Brenner; Albertus, Paul; Chemical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Solid-state batteries are often considered to have superior safety compared to their liquid electrolyte counterparts, but further analysis is needed, especially because the desired higher specific energy of a solid-state lithium metal battery results in a higher potential temperature rise from the electrical energy in the cell. Safety is a multi-faceted issue that should be carefully assessed. We build "all-inclusive microcell" Differential Scanning Calorimetry samples that include all cell stack layers for a Li0.43CoO2 | Li7La3Zr2O12 | Li cell in commercially relevant material ratios (e.g. capacity matched electrodes) and gather heat flow data. From this data, we use thermodynamically calculated enthalpies of reactions for this cell chemistry to predict key points in cell thermal runaway (e.g., onset temperature, maximum temperature) and assess battery safety at the materials stage of cell development. We construct a model of the temperature rise during a thermal ramp test and short circuit in a large-format solid-state Li0.43CoO2 | Li7La3Zr2O12 | Li battery based on microcell heat flow measurements. Our model shows self-heating onset temperatures at ∼200-250°C, due to O2 released from the metal oxide cathode. Cascading exothermic reactions may drive the cell temperature during thermal runaway to ∼1000 °C in our model, comparable to temperature rise from high-energy Li-ion cells, but subject to key assumptions such as O2 reacting with Li. Higher energy density cathode materials such as LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 in our model show peak temperatures >1300°C. Transport of O2 or Li through the solid-state separator (e.g., through cracks), and the passivation of Li metal by solid products such as Li2O, are key determinants of the peak temperature. Our work demonstrates the critical importance of the management of molten Li and O2 gas within the cell, and the importance of future modeling and experimental work to quantify the rate of the 2Li+1/2O2→Li2O reaction, and others, within a large format Li metal solid-state battery.Item First Principle Computational Study of Fast Ionic Conductors(2018) He, Xingfeng; Mo, Yifei; Material Science and Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Fast ionic conductors have great potential to enable novel technologies in energy storage and conversion. However, it is not yet understood why only a few materials can deliver exceptionally higher ionic conductivity than typical solids or how on can design fast ion conductors following simple principles. In this dissertation, I applied first principles computational method to understanding the fast ionic diffusion within fast ionic conductors and I demonstrated a conceptually simple framework for guiding the design of super-ionic conductor materials. I studied Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 (NBT) as the model material for oxygen ionic conductor. The structure-property relationship of the NBT materials is established. Based on the newly gained materials understanding, our first principles computation predicted that Na and K were promising dopants to increase oxygen ionic conductivity. The newly designed NBT materials with A-site Na and K substituted A sites exhibited a many-fold increase in the ionic conductivity at 900K comparing to that in the experimental compound. We demonstrated that the concerted migration mechanism with low energy barrier is the universal mechanism of fast ionic diffusion in a broad range of ionic conducting materials. Our theory provides a conceptually simple framework for guiding the design of super-ionic conductor materials, that is, inserting mobile ions into high-energy sites to activate concerted ion conduction with lower migration barriers. We demonstrated this strategy by designing a number of novel fast Li-ion conducting materials to activate concerted migration with reduced diffusion barrier. We identified the common features of crystal structural framework for lithium SICs. Based on the determined attributes, we performed a high-throughput screening of all lithium-containing oxide and sulfide compounds. The screening revealed several crystal structures that are potential to be fast ion conductors. Through aliovalent doping, we modified the Li content of these structures which resulting in different Li sublattice within the structure and we found a number of lithium super- ionic conductors that are predicted to have Li+ conductivities greater than 0.1 mS/cm at 300K.Item A Platform Towards In Situ Stress/Strain Measurement in Lithium Ion Battery Electrodes(2012) Baron, Sergio Daniel; Ghodssi, Reza; Electrical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis demonstrates the design, fabrication and testing of a platform for in situ stress/strain measurement in lithium ion battery electrodes. The platform - consisting of a Microelectromechanical System (MEMS) chip containing an electrochemical cavity and an optical sensing element, a custom electrochemical package and an experimental setup - was successfully developed. Silicon was used as an active electrode material, and a thin-film electrochemical stack was conceived and tested. Finally, multiple experiments showed correlation between the active material volume change inside the battery and a signal change in the optical sensing element. The experimental results, combined with the MEMS implementation of the sensing element provide a promising way to evaluate electrochemical reaction-induced stress monitoring in a simple and compact fashion, while experiments are carried out in situ.