Pacific Northwest national laboratory & University of Arkansas, USA
By Dr. Jie Xiao, Pacific Northwest national laboratory & University of Arkansas, USA
To significantly boost the energy of the state-of-art lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries, one of the most effective approaches is to replace graphite anode with Li metal which is ultralight but energy concentrated. However, its thermodynamically instable nature in liquid electrolytes cuases many well-known problems such as dendrite formation which plagues the implementation of the proposed technology. Although many approaches have been proposed to rescue Li metal anodes, most of the work are performed in small-scale coin cells and tested in the conditions drastically different from the reality. A full knowledge of Li metal activities at the cell level is lacking but extremely critical for the success of developing next-generation rechargeable Li metal batteries. This talk will discuss the fundamental challenges of utilizing Li metal anode in at cell-level. A Li metal prototype pouch cell with 350 Wh/kg energy with more than 100 cycles will be demonstrated. The key fundamentals that enable the long-term cycling of Li metal anodes in pouch cells are discussed and the root causes of the poor cycling of realistic Li metal pouch cells have been revisited. A series of fundamentally new insights have been provided to inspire scientific innovations to tackle the real challenges of developing next-generation battery technologies.
Authors:
Jie Xiao1,2 and Jun Liu1
1. Energy & Environmental Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA99352, USA
2. Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR72701, USA
Biography
Dr. Jie Xiao is currently a chief scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She also holds a joint position at Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at University of Arkansas. Dr. Xiao obtained her Ph.D degree in Materials Chemistry from State University of New York at Binghamton in 2008. She received her B.S (2001) and M.S.(2004) degrees both from Wuhan University, China. Dr. Xiao’s research interest focused on the identification of new materials and novel technologies for electrochemical energy storage and conversion. She has been leading research thrusts on both practical applications and fundamental study of energy storage materials and systems, spanning from micro-batteries for acoustic fish tags to advanced battery technologies for vehicle electrification and stationary applications. She was the recipient of several awards including Arkansas Research Alliance Scholar, Ronald L. Brodzinski Early Career Exceptional Achievement Award, Zapperd Award from the American Chemical Society (ACS) and R&D 100 award etc. Her work has been widely reported by many media including C&EN News, R&D magazine, U.S. Department of State etc. Dr. Xiao has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal papers (Google H-index:52), 2 book chapters and filed 18 US patents (issued and pending) in the area of energy storage research area.