Abstract

Batteries are critical to contemporary society for portable electronic devices, electrified vehicles and enabling the adoption of inherently intermittent renewable energy such as wind and solar. They are complex systems based on heterogeneous structures that operate far from equilibrium. Pursuit of fundamental understanding over multiple length scales remains critically important to effectively design materials and electrode architectures to ensure that the functional properties of the energy storage systems meet the needs of current and future applications. The active materials and their structures determine the open circuit potential of a battery, however, kinetic factors involving ion and electron transport as well as electron transfer determine the practical utilization of the contained energy. Impediments to ion and electron transport manifest as localized resistances influencing the polarization of the battery while under load. The resistances can originate from numerous sources including particle size and morphology, electrode design, and multiple interfaces. Methods to probe the influence of particle and aggregate size on realizable electrochemistry will be highlighted. Further, the role and control of dynamic interphases will be discussed. Insights into reaction mechanisms and their associated transport processes gained through the use of operando and in-situ methods will be featured.

Biography

Dr. Esther S. Takeuchi is a SUNY Distinguished Professor and the William and Jane Knapp Chair in Energy and the Environment at Stony Brook University. She holds a joint appointment at Brookhaven National Laboratory as Chief Scientist and Chair of the Interdisciplinary Science Department. Previously, she was employed at Greatbatch, Inc., where her achievements in lithium batteries led to several technological innovations. Her work was instrumental in the development of the lithium/silver vanadium oxide battery, the power source of life-saving implantable cardiac defibrillators. Dr. Takeuchi is a prolific inventor with > 150 patents.

Dr. Takeuchi is a member of National Academy of Engineering, the National Inventors Hall of Fame, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, is a Charter Member of the National Academy of Innovation was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. She received the E. V Murphree and Astellas Awards from the American Chemical Society and the Electrochemical Society (ECS) Battery Division Technology award. She is a Fellow of the ECS, the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has received the European Inventor Award, the Sigma Xi Walston Chubb Innovation Award, an honorary Doctorate in Engineering from Notre Dame University, the ECS Edward G. Acheson Award and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is the recipient of the 2022 National Academy of Sciences Chemical Sciences Award.

Dr. Takeuchi received a BA from the University of Pennsylvania with a double major in chemistry and history and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the Ohio State University.

Hosted by College of Engineering and the school of Mechanical Engineering.