The widespread integration of renewable, intermittent energy sources such as wind or solar is dependent upon the development of efficient large-scale energy storage systems for load-leveling the electric grid. Similarly, the acceptance of plug-in hybrid electric—and especially pure electric vehicles—hinges on the availability of intermediate scale, safe, low-cost energy storage batteries to provide practical driving ranges.
These approaches can help mitigate CO2 emissions and urban pollution, but it is widely acknowledged that traditional Lithium-ion batteries—which work on the principle of reversible storage of electrons and Li-ions in bulk materials—are approaching their limits. This presentation focused on the challenge to find better electrochemical energy storage systems that go “beyond Li-ion” batteries. Topics encompassed multivalent intercalation batteries and cells that operate on the basis of “chemical transformations.” These both represent exciting new technologies that could meet the needs for high energy density storage. Yet many barriers remain to realizing their full promise, especially for automotive applications. They require cleverly designed materials for the electrodes, different electrolyte strategies than those used for Li-ion batteries and advanced electrode architectures. If the hurdles can be overcome, then energy storage technology has a much better opportunity to change the way we manage energy.
In this seminar, University of Waterloo’s Linda Nazar discussed the research in the Electrochemical Energy Research Centre lab at the University of Waterloo that is aimed at addressing the above challenges.
This talk was presented on September 7, 2016 as part of the IHS Seminar Series at MITEI.
About the speaker:
Linda Nazar was educated at UBC and the University of Toronto where she received her Ph.D. degree in materials chemistry. After a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Exxon Corporate Research, in 1987 she joined the University of Waterloo. She was promoted to full professor in 2000 and has established the Electrochemical Energy Research Centre. She has been an invited professor at the IMN/Université de Nantes, the Materials Science department in UCLA, the CNRS in Grenoble, France; and at Caltech. Nazar has achieved international recognition as a leader in the areas of solid state chemistry, electrochemistry, energy storage and materials science. She has co-authored over 200 publications, and has 8 patents. She is listed in the 2014 Highly Cited Research List (Web of Science). Nazar is also the recipient of several academic and professional honors and awards, including the ECS Battery Division Research Award (2009), the IBA award (2011), the IUPAC Distinguished Women in Chemistry award (2011), the August-Wilhelm-von-Hofman Lecture award (2013), and was a 2010 Moore Distinguished Scholar at Caltech. She was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 2012, and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2015. Nazar is Member of the Editorial Board of several scientific journals, and serves on several national and international scientific boards, panels, and committees.
Post time: Apr-22-2017