November 27 - December 4, 2020
November 27 - December 4, 2020 (Virtual)
2020 MRS Spring/Fall Meeting

Symposium S.EN12-Materials for Safe and Sustainable Electrochemical Energy Storage

This symposium will cover recent advances in the development of materials and technologies that focus on electrochemical energy storage (e.g., Li/Na batteries, electrochemical capacitors) with high stability, safety and sustainability for a broad range of applications, such as portable electronics, electric vehicles and smart grids.

Electrochemical energy storage devices continue penetrating deeply to our daily life and industrial uses. With the increase of energy density and power density of these devices, stability and safety become increasingly critical due to the higher electrochemical activity of electrode/electrolyte materials and larger scale of storage systems, in which reliability is the first concern. Significant effort has been made in the development of new materials and structures that can provide significantly higher energy density, while maintaining high safety features becomes challenging. This includes novel electrode materials, electrolyte materials, separators, current collectors and functional additives. In addition, novel device engineering strategies have been also explored to offer early diagnostic and safety management and protection. At the same time, the rapid growth of energy storage market has significantly boosted the demand and consumption of precious materials (e.g., Co, Li, Ni), which starts to draw concerns about resource shortage and materials sustainability. This symposium will provide a forum for scientists and engineers to communicate their recent progress and exchange ideas in these topics. Most recent advances in different electrochemical systems will be covered, including safe organic electrolytes, ionic liquid electrolytes, solid state electrolytes, aqueous electrolytes and hybrid systems. Both traditional Li+ chemistry and beyond Li+ chemistries (e.g., Li-sulfur, Li-metal, Na-ion) will be of interest, while multivalent batteries will not be included in this symposium. Submissions that report on green materials, chemistry and engineering methods for improving life-cycle efficiency and sustainability are also encouraged.

Topics will include:

  • Electrode materials design, synthesis and modification for high energy and safe Li-ion and Na-ion batteries
  • Materials and structures for stable Li-metal and Na-metal batteries (sulfur and O2)
  • Advanced organic, ionic liquid and mixed electrolytes Li and Na chemistry
  • Polymer, ceramic and composite solid-state electrolytes for solid-state Li/Na batteries
  • Novel current collectors, separators, functional additives for improved battery safety in Li/Na batteries
  • Green chemistry and materials for reduced cost and reliance on precious metals
  • Materials that can be recycled, regenerated and reused
  • Advanced characterization, diagnostic and modeling of electrochemical degradation processes

Invited Speakers:

  • Y. Shirley Meng (University of California, San Diego, USA)
  • Chunmei Ban (Virginia Tech, USA)
  • Yi Cui (Stanford University, USA)
  • Anthony Burrell (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA)
  • Mei Cai (General Motors, USA)
  • YunFeng Lu (University of California, Los Angeles, USA)
  • Chunsheng Wang (University of Maryland, USA)
  • Donghai Wang (The Pennsylvania State University, USA)
  • Kang Xu (U.S. Army Research Laboratory, USA)
  • Jun Chen (University of California, Los Angeles, USA)
  • Atsuo Yamada (University of Tokyo, Japan)
  • Yongsheng Hu (Institute of Physics, China)
  • Quanhong Yang (Tianjin University, China)
  • Jie Xiao (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA)
  • Veronica Augustyn (North Carolina State University, USA)
  • Yongsheng Chen (Nankai University, China)
  • Hongjin Fan (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
  • Zhuangjun Fan (Harbin Institue of Technology, China)
  • Minah Lee (Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea)
  • John T. Vaughey (Argonne National Laboratory, USA)
  • Yonggang Wang (Fudan University, China)
  • Yuan Yang (Columbia University, USA)

Symposium Organizers

Zheng Chen
University of California, San Diego
NanoEngineering, Chemical Engineering
USA

Xiaolin Li
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Energy Processes and Materials Division
USA

Hongmei Luo
New Mexico State University
Chemical and Materials Engineering
USA

Jie Sun
Tianjin University
Chemical Engineering and Technology
China

Topics

energy storage ionic conductor ion-solid interactions organic oxide polymer Sustainability