As part of the Office of Technology Commercialization, the Trask Innovation Fund assists faculty by supporting research projects that will enhance commercial value of Purdue University intellectual property assets.

Dr. Pol is leading a research team in the discovery of Prototype Development of Flexible, Light-weight, Safer Solid-State Lithium-ion Battery. “The developed innovative composite solid electrolyte possesses enhanced room-temperature ionic conductivity, wide voltage window, and thermal stability till 330 °C by combining ceramic filler with poly(vinylidene fluoride) polymer and bis(trifluoromethane) sulfonimide lithium salt” explains Dr. Pol. The lower activation energy with least energy barrier for Li ion migration is exhibited in optimized free-standing composite solid electrolyte minimizing interfacial resistance.

Solid State Batteries (SSBs) replace flammable liquid electrolyte with solid state ionic conductors. Dr. Pol’s group is working to develop the technology needed to enhance the performance of these batteries at room temperature and high charge-discharge rates. Trask Innovation funds will support large format prototype pouch cell construction and testing for potential commercial applications.

Purdue’s Vilas Pol Energy Research (ViPER)  https://engineering.purdue.edu/ViPER/pol.html

ViPER laboratory focuses its research activities on understanding and enhancing the thermal safety of lithium-, sodium-, potassium-ion and solid-state batteries as well as evolving novel electrolytes for ultralow (below -40 ^oC) temperature battery operations.