April 22 - 26, 2019
Phoenix, Arizona
2019 MRS Spring Meeting

Symposium ES06-Atomic-Level Understanding of Materials in Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers

This symposium broadly covers current and emerging understandings of materials for fuel cells, electrolyzers, and related electrochemical devices (such as metal-air batteries, and electrocatalytic reactors for carbon dioxide and nitrogen reduction). Of particular interest are how fundamental understandings of materials can impact macroscopic device performance and stability, how to design superior materials for interfaces and interphases (e.g., solid-solid, solid-liquid, and solid-gas) in electrochemical systems, and how to experimentally validate open hypotheses within this field of research. The objective is to provide an interdisciplinary discussion forum about the current state and future perspectives of electrochemical materials, particularly for fuel cells and electrolyzers, including open challenges and opportunities. Symposium topics include new structure-property relations of materials in fuel cells, electrolyzers, and related devices; state-of-the-art characterization and computation tools; and conceptual discussions of the interplay between fundamental and applied aspects of materials in electrochemical systems. Special emphases are placed on materials design for interfaces and interphases from atomic- and molecular-level understandings and their role in shaping macroscopic device performance and stability, on first-principles and phenomenological modeling with predictive power, and on in situ/in operando characterizations of materials for interfaces and interphases as well as their evolution over the course of the device’s operation. The symposium also welcomes contributions aimed at bridging well-defined experimental measurements with first-principles modeling.

Topics will include:

  • Structure–property relations in electrocatalysts in fuel cells, electrolyzers, and related electrochemical devices (including hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and other small-molecule electrochemistry cycles)
  • Structure–property relations of solid-solid, solid-liquid, and solid-gas interfaces in fuel cells, electrolyzers, and related electrochemical devices
  • Design principles of electrodes, electrolytes, and additives
  • In operando characterizations of electrochemical interfaces and interphases, including mechanistic studies and degradation analyses
  • Advanced computations and simulations, including both first-principles and phenomenological modeling with predictive power
  • New concepts for electrochemical materials and processes at interfaces and interphases within the context of energy storage and conversion devices.

Invited Speakers:

  • Meilin Liu (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)
  • Geoffroy Hautier (Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium)
  • Ethan Crumlin (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA)
  • Sossina Haile (Northwestern University, USA)
  • Michael Eikerling (Simon Fraser University, Canada)
  • Alexis Bell (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
  • Shuo Chen (University of Houston, USA)
  • Thomas Jaramillo (Stanford University, USA)
  • Keith Johnston (The University of Texas at Austin, USA)
  • Yuyan Shao (Pacific Northwestern National Laboratory, USA)
  • Kelsey Stoerzinger (Oregon State University, USA)
  • Peter Strasser (Technical University of Berlin, Germany)
  • Shigang Sun (Xiamen University, China)

Symposium Organizers

Jin Suntivich
Cornell University
USA

Ismaila Dabo
The Pennsylvania State University
USA

Yelena Gorlin
Robert Bosch LLC
USA

Wenchao Sheng
Tongji University
China

Topics

catalytic diffusion electromigration energy generation energy storage kinetics metrology simulation surface chemistry