The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a Project Grant totaling $396,734 to the University of Illinois under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) on March 1, 2024. The purpose of this 5-year grant is to conduct research to elucidate the fundamental interfacial processes that occur in lithium-ion battery electrolytes, with the goal of guiding the development of safer, higher-energy, and more durable battery technologies. The project will utilize advanced in-situ and ex-situ...
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $760,000 Project Grant under the Engineering Program (CFDA 47.041) to Northern Illinois University. The project aims to systematically vary the composition and concentration of battery electrolytes to determine optimal solutions for advanced rechargeable batteries. Key objectives include: 1) Gaining a better understanding of solvation structure through high-throughput experimentation and characterization using techniques like Raman spectroscopy and...
This National Science Foundation (NSF) Project Grant award under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) provides $384,954 to Drexel University to fabricate a series of spatially heterogeneous solid polymer electrolytes for solid-state batteries. The research aims to systematically decouple the local mechanical, chemical, and electrochemical effects on lithium and sodium electrodeposition in solid-state batteries. The project involves (1) fabricating patterned solid polymer electrolytes (PSPES)...
This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) provides $450,000 to Stony Brook University to conduct research on understanding the solvation structure and dynamics of liquid organic electrolytes in lithium-ion batteries. The primary objectives are to: Develop a large-scale database of experimental NMR spectra capturing solvation environments in lithium-ion battery electrolytes, using advanced natural language processing and vision-language...
This $400,000 National Science Foundation project grant, awarded through the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), will fund research at the New Jersey Institute of Technology to improve fundamental understanding of the structure, dynamics, and electromechanical actuation of aqueous electrolytes in nanoporous media. Over a three-year period beginning September 1, 2022, the grantee will apply experiments and molecular simulations to characterize the formation of the electric double layer in...
This $170,000 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Program (CFDA 47.041) aims to uncover the relationship between liquid electrolytes and battery performance, which is crucial for developing next-generation rechargeable batteries. The research team at the University of Illinois will systematically vary electrolyte composition and concentration to identify optimal solutions, leveraging high-throughput characterization, computational simulations, and machine...
This $486,976 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) will support research at Northwestern University to identify the reaction mechanisms that underpin the formation of stable solid electrolyte interphases (SEIs) in lithium metal batteries. The central goal is to develop a fundamental understanding of SEI formation processes to enable the design of new fluorine-free electrolytes that can promote desirable SEI reactions and suppress...
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $200,000 Project Grant under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to The Pennsylvania State University, doing business as Penn State, for a 2-year research project titled "ERI: HIGH-ENTROPY LITHIUM-GARNET CERAMIC SOLID-STATE ELECTROLYTES FOR ENERGY STORAGE". The project aims to design and fabricate high-entropy lithium-garnet ceramic solid-state electrolytes to enable safer and higher energy density solid-state batteries. Key...
The National Science Foundation awarded a $2.7 million Project Grant to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049). The grant supports research to develop a sustainable route to 3D solid-state sodium-ion battery manufacturing through direct ink writing and capillary rise infiltration. Sub-awards were provided to Florida International University, Stanford University, Drexel University, and Xerion Advanced Battery Corp. to...
This $210,564 National Science Foundation project grant supports the development of innovative in situ techniques to characterize liquid electrolytes for rechargeable batteries. Funded under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), the University of Nevada, Las Vegas will work with investigators to characterize transport properties and microstructures of battery electrolytes using techniques like in situ probe beam deflection, small-angle X-ray scattering, ohmic microscopy, and microelectrode...
The National Science Foundation awarded a $473,900 Project Grant to The Pennsylvania State University under the Engineering (47.041) federal grant program. The five-year award will support research to develop a novel characterization platform to directly probe the potential-dependent properties and structure of the electrical double layer in lithium-ion battery electrolyte systems. The platform aims to characterize key interfacial properties, including interfacial free energy, surface excess of ions, potential of zero charge, surface charge density, and double layer capacitance. Insights gained from this work are intended to accelerate design optimization of electrolytes, shed light on interfacial modification of electrodes, and advance fundamental knowledge of solid/liquid interfaces in battery systems beyond lithium-ion technologies. Research is scheduled for completion by January 2028.