Distinguished Materials Seminar Series

***Refreshments at 3:45pm in Noyes lobby

Abstract:

Advanced materials underpin nearly every aspect of the energy transition. In particular, electrochemically-active materials enable the efficient transformation of electrical energy to and from chemical energy, and are at the heart of carbon-neutral energy cycles. Understanding design rules at the levels of ions, electrons, and molecules that govern material chemistry and electronic structure holds the key towards rationally optimizing technologies for energy generation, storage, conversion and utilization.

Li/Na-M-O ternary intercalation oxides are crucial for energy storage, such as today's lithium-ion and tomorrow's sodium-ion batteries. In solid-state ionics, the field is focused on the redox and transport of the alkali-metal ion intercalants (Li+ and Na+). On the other hand, in terms of solid-state chemistry and physics, the metal-oxygen (M-O) bond of the intercalation host primarily determines the crystal and band structures and is well understood.

A crucial link between solid-state ionics, chemistry, and physics are point defects in otherwise ideal crystalline lattices. Examples include metal and oxygen vacancies as well as antisite and Schottky defect pairs. Using ternary intercalation oxides as model systems, I will overview (1) how point defects have unexpected and striking effects on their functional redox, ionic, and electronic properties, and (2) how solid-state ionics, chemistry, and physics intersect in this technologically important class of materials.

More about the Speaker:

Will Chueh is a Kimmelman Professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering and Energy Science & Engineering at Stanford University, Department of Photon Science at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and the Director & Senior Fellow of the Precourt Institute for Energy. He leads a group of more than thirty researchers pursuing the following missions: (1) understand reactions and transport involving ions and electrons, and (2) decarbonize various energy transformation pathways. He received his BS in applied physics, and his MS and PhD in materials science from Caltech. Prior to joining Stanford in 2012, he was a Distinguished Truman Fellow at Sandia National Laboratories. Chueh has received numerous honors, including the David A. Shirley Award (2023), Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award (2022), MRS Outstanding Young Investigator Award (2018), Volkswagen/BASF Science Award Electrochemistry (2016), Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (2016), Sloan Research Fellowship (2016), NSF CAREER Award (2015), Solid State Ionics Young Scientist Award (2013), and Caltech Demetriades-Tsafka-Kokkalis Prize in Energy (2012). In 2012, he was named as one of the "Top 35 Innovators Under the Age of 35" by MIT's Technology Review. He serves on the editorial boards of numerous journals including Energy & Environmental Science, and is the Editor-in-Chief of Solid State Ionics.