ChE Seminar Series: Metal electrodes: the future of cost-effective storage of electrical energy

ChE Seminar Series Presents: Dr. Lynden A. Archer

Lynden A. Archer, Ph.D

Joseph Silbert Dean of the College of Engineering and the James A Friend Family Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Metal electrodes: the future of cost-effective storage of electrical energy

Abstract
The levelized cost of electric power generated from renewable wind and solar resources have fallen, continuously over the last decade. This trend is fueling optimism about humanity’s ability to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in the electric power generation and transportation sectors—without the large government subsides predicted as recently as a decade ago. It is known that the intermittency and seasonal variability of the electric power supply from wind and solar sources pose significant barriers to broad-based acceptance of clean electric power. Low-cost options for storing large quantities of renewable electric power would lower/eliminate these barriers and meet an unmet need in both the power generation and transportation sectors. Rechargeable electrochemical cells based on metallic anodes, including lithium, zinc, and aluminum, offer the potential for transformative advances in cost-effective storage of electrical energy. Such cells are under active development worldwide because they provide a path towards battery systems capable of meeting the performance and long-term storage requirements for truly dispatchable electric power generation from renewables. Recharge of any metal anode requires reversible electrodeposition/crystallization of metals; a process that is fundamentally unstable. This talk considers the stability limits for metal electrodeposition processes in liquid and semisolid structured electrolytes and, on that basis, proposes electrode and anode/electrolyte interphase design principles for enabling highly reversible storage solutions. The talk will also explore contemporary efforts to create minimal electrolytes and electrochemical interphases based on these principles and will discuss their effectiveness in enabling cost-effective energy storage systems with high levels of reversibility.

Biography
Lynden Archer is the Joseph Silbert Dean of the College of Engineering and the James A Friend Family Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. His research focuses on the transport properties of polymers and polymer-nanoparticle hybrid materials, and their applications for electrochemical energy storage. Archer received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Stanford University in 1993 and was a Postdoctoral Member of the Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1994. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). His research contributions have been recognized with various awards, including the AIChE Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum award, the National Science Foundation award for Special Creativity, an NSF Distinguished Lectureship in Mathematical & Physical Sciences, the American Institute of Chemical Engineer’s MAC Centeniell Engineer award, and the Thompson-Reuters World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds in Materials Science for 2014 & 2015. At Cornell, he has been recognized with the James & Mary Tien Excellence in Teaching Award and thrice with the Merrill Presidential award as the most influential member of the Cornell faculty selected by a Merrill Presidential Scholar.