February 23 @ 10:30 a.m. – noon
Refreshments will begin at 10:30 a.m. in ETRL 119
Everyone is invited to attend!
Defect-Driven Electrodes for Energy Storage Applications
The School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering is hosting a seminar presented by Dr. Janet Callahan, Chair and Professor in the Micro School of Materials Science and Engineering, at Boise State University .
Biography:
Dr. Janet Callahan came to Boise State University in 2004 as one of four founding faculty of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. In 2005, Dr. Callahan was appointed founding associate dean for the College of Engineering. She now serves as chair of the Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering.
Dr. Callahan began her academic career at the Georgia Institute of Technology as Assistant and Associate Professor following a post-doctoral appointment at CSIRO in Melbourne, Australia. While an assistant professor, she was awarded a National Science Foundation CAREER award, and with this funding established a new method for creating embedded metal nanoparticles in dielectric materials, using ion implantation of reactive elements. Dr. Callahan was company co-founder and Director of Research for a medical device start-up and pursued this full-time for two years before joining Boise State.
Dr. Callahan holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science, an M.S in Metallurgy, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, all from the University of Connecticut at Storrs. The University of Connecticut recognized Dr. Callahan’s achievements by appointing her in 2004 to its Academy of Distinguished Engineers. Dr. Callahan’s research interests include medical devices; brachytherapy and related materials synthesis; biomaterials; oxidation of high temperature and refractory alloys; ion beam synthesis of nanomaterials; thermal barrier coatings; and combustion chemical vapor deposition. She is also active in engineering education research, studying freshmen retention and strategies for active learning. Dr. Callahan is the ACerS commissioner for ABET’s Engineering Accreditation Commission.
Abstract:
Amorphous materials have many beneficial properties such as high mechanical hardness, chemical inertness, wide optical absorption range and improved magnetic properties. For rechargeable battery applications, amorphous electrode materials which lack long-range order can offer more open sites for intercalation compared to their crystalline peers, leading to high capacity. It has recently been shown that the increased concentration of interfacial regions in amorphous materials may form pathways that facilitate ion diffusion. In addition, nanostructured electrode materials have shown substantial advantages over their bulk counterparts in terms of higher surface area, shorter diffusion length as well as better mechanical strength to accommodate the strain of transporting ion insertion/extraction. In this presentation, recent advances in the development of amorphous TiO2-based nanostructures will be discussed for their applications in Li-ion batteries.
Janet will also be accompanied by a former WSU graduate Kassiopeia Smith:
Kassiopeia Smith received her Bachelor of Science in Materials Science and Engineering from Washington State University in 2014. She was accepted to Boise State University in 2014 and is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. Program in Materials Science and Engineering.
Kassi works with Assistant Professor Claire Xiong in the field of Electrochemical Energy Storage Materials. Her research focuses on defect driven nanostructured compounds and electrode-electrolyte interactions. Since 2014, Kassi has published two papers as first author: Three-dimensional graphene from CO2 as a promising anode for sodium-ion batteries and Effects of proton irradiation on TiO2 nanotube electrode for lithium-ion batteries. She also co-authored a published paper: Trends in Na-Ion Solvation with Alkyl-Carbonate Electrolytes for Sodium-Ion Batteries: Insights from First-Principles Calculations. She has presented her research at various professional conferences including Electronic Materials and Applications 2016, the ACS National Meeting and Exposition, and MS&T.
Kassi’s volunteer activities include presenting educational workshops at schools across the Treasure Valley and supporting outreach opportunities for the Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering and the Society of Women Engineers.
Kassi plans to defend her thesis in Fall 2018 and graduate with a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering in Spring 2019.
