Prof. Ilias Belharouak
Research Director of the Energy Storage Group at QEERI, & Professor at the College of Science and Engineering, HBKU, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar.
By Prof. Ilias Belharouak, Research Director of the Energy Storage Group at the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), and Professor at the College of Science and Engineering at the Hamad Ben Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar.
The sulfur cathode in the Li-S battery offers superior theoretical capacity (1672 mAh.g-1) compared to all Li-ion battery cathodes. Li-S batteries have the advantages of using an abundant, nontoxic and low-cost cathode material. However, several performance-related issues prevent the development of practical Li-S batteries. These issues are rapid capacity fading and low coulombic efficiency, which are believed to be linked to the dissolution of lithium polysulfides from the sulfur electrode into the electrolyte. To overcome these shortcomings, we developed a conceptually new approach based on mitigating the sulfur loss by leveling the concentration gradient of the polysulfide species at the cathode/electrolyte interface. The presentation will review works on the room temperature lithium sulfur batteries since the year 2000. Namely, progresses in capacity, cycle life and efficiency of the cells will be discussed from the science and engineering standpoints. In this context, we will discuss our most recent results based on the development of a novel electrolyte that was designed to solve the cycling instability and inefficiency that are inherent to the Li-S battery.
Biography
Dr. Ilias Belharouak is the Research Director of the Energy Storage Group at the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), and Professor at the College of Science and Engineering at the Hamad Ben Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar. His mission is to develop and implement durable, efficient and affordable stationary energy storage solutions for solar and desalination applications with a focus on the valorization of the Qatari natural resources. Before joining Qatar Foundation in 2013, Dr. Belharouak was a Senior Materials Scientist and Battery Expert at the Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois, USA, since 2001. Dr. Belharouak has extensive experience working with multiple government agencies and industry in applying battery research for projects ranging from medical to electric vehicles and grid applications. His research interests deal with high power and high energy lithium ion batteries, sulfur batteries and sodium batteries for consumer, transportation and grid applications; synthesis and design of battery materials, electrolytes and additives; engineering and scale up of battery materials and cells; multi-scale range characterization of battery components and interfaces; and diagnostics and probing of aging phenomena in batteries. Dr. Belharouak was recognized with several awards including the Oscar of Innovation (100 R&D) awards in 2012, 2009, 2008 and 2005; the U.S. Federal Laboratory Consortium Awards for excellence in technology transfer in 2008 and 2009; and Recognition Letters from the US. Secretary of State of the Department of Energy and the US. Congress in 2009. Dr. Belharouak published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers in international high impact journals such as Nature Materials, Advanced Energy Materials, Nature Communications etc.; 18 US. Patents and 3 books. Dr. Belharouak received Ph.D. Degree (1999) and Master’s degree (1996) in Materials Science and Solid State Chemistry from the Institute for Solid State Chemistry (ICMCB), National Center for Scientific Research, Bordeaux 1 University, Bordeaux, France; and a Bachelor’s Degree (1995) in Inorganic Chemistry from the Faculty of Sciences Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, Morocco.
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