The Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering is hosting a seminar presented by Dr. Soumik Banerjee, Associate Professor, School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University, Nov. 27, at 4:10 p.m. in ADBF 1002/FLOYD 256 (Tri-Cities).
Soumik Banerjee is an Associate Professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Washington State University. He received his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics at Virginia Tech in 2008 followed by a Research Scholar position at the Max Planck Institute in Magdeburg, Germany (2008 – 2009) and a Research Fellow position at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor (2009 – 2011). Dr. Banerjee’s research expertise and scholarly activities lie in modeling transport phenomena, electrochemistry and self-assembly, relevant to energy conversion and storage devices. Dr. Banerjee routinely employs ab initio quantum mechanical calculations, atomistic and molecular modeling techniques as well as stochastic models such as kinetic Monte Carlo to simulate bulk materials and interfaces comprising various liquids and solid-phase materials such as ionic liquids, carbon nanostructures, perovskites and glasses. He has received several prestigious awards including the 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award and the Pratt Fellowship at Virginia Tech.
Theory-guided design of molecularly-tailored electrolytes
Next-generation batteries, such as lithium-air and sodium-ion batteries, are promising energy storage technologies for meeting current demands in electric vehicles and renewable energy grids. However, the practically-achievable performance, durability and safety of these batteries are highly dependent on the electro-chemical stability and physicochemical properties of the electrolyte. In particular, the ionic conductivity, vapor pressure, electrochemical stability, static and optical dielectric constant of the electrolyte and its ability to dissolve certain chemical species are extremely important. Currently used organic liquid based electrolytes are flammable and hence there are concerns related to their safety. While plenty of research is currently underway to identify alternate electrolytes that lead to safe and high performing batteries, these electrolytes are tested on a trial and error basis by repetitive experimental synthesis and characterization, which is expensive and time consuming. Additionally, it is extremely challenging to experimentally determine the reaction kinetics at the electrolyte-electrode interface, which plays a significant role in determining the electrochemical performance of the battery. This talk will demonstrate through examples that atomistic simulations, in conjunction with continuum-scale modeling, are powerful and cost-effective tools that can calculate a broad range of electrochemical and thermodynamic properties of electrolytes as well as characterize the electron transfer reactions at the electrode-electrolyte interfaces. Recent studies on two distinct classes of electrolytes, based on ionic liquids and amorphous glasses, will be presented as examples to showcase that these simulations are able to directly relate the electrolyte properties to their structure and can therefore aid the identification of novel electrolytes for next-generation batteries.
