Date: October 19, 2017
Time: 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Location: Maeder Hall
Professor Esther Takeuchi, of Stony Brook University, will speak on the topic of “Advancing Energy Storage through Materials: The need for multiscale investigation from the molecular to the mesoscale” as part of the 2017/2018 Highlight Seminar Series at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University.
ABSTRACT
Batteries are application driven, scientifically complex electrical energy storage (EES) systems used for portable devices, electric transportation and stationary electrical storage. While theoretical energy estimates, including theoretical capacity and voltage, are often provided in the literature, a material’s efficiency and function under working conditions can be quite different. The diversity and intricacies of new and modified battery materials inherently reduces the probability of optimization experiments resulting in marketable products because the detailed electrochemical mechanisms are unknown. In order to fully understand the function and limitation of the mechanisms, investigation over multiple length scales is needed. Several materials classes will be discussed including iron oxide inverse spinel, Fe3O4, and manganese oxide hollandite type structures, M’Mn8O16 where M’ = Ag or K. Characterization approaches used in concert with theory and modeling tie together information gathered at the local or atomic level through methods like TEM and EELS, with mesoscale information such as the evolving structure of the composite electrode and the systems level performance. This presentation will illustrate that combining synthesis, characterization, electrochemistry, theory and modeling expertise to study batteries from the molecular to mesoscale level is the appropriate approach and is needed to reach a complete understanding of battery function.
BIO
Dr. Esther S. Takeuchi is a SUNY Distinguished Professor and holds the William and Jane Knapp Chair in Energy and the Environment in the Departments of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering and Chemistry at Stony Brook University. She also has a joint appointment at Brookhaven National Laboratory as Chief Scientist in the Energy Sciences Directorate.
Prior to her academic appointment, she was employed at Greatbatch, Inc., where her achievements in lithium battery research, particularly on cells for implantable applications, led to a number of key technological developments. Her work was instrumental in the successful development of the lithium/silver vanadium oxide (Li/SVO) battery which is the power source of life-saving implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs). The battery technology enabled the widespread adoption of ICDs and remains critical as >300,000 devices are implanted per year. Dr. Takeuchi is a prolific inventor with > 150 patents.
Dr. Takeuchi has been widely recognized by the most prominent organizations in the United States. She is a member of National Academy of Engineering. In 2009, Dr. Takeuchi was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. In May, 2011 she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. She was elected as a Charter Member of the National Academy of Innovation in 2013. She received the E. V Murphree Award and Astellas Award from the American Chemical Society and the Electrochemical Society Battery Division Technology award. She is a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society (ECS) and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).
Dr. Takeuchi received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania with a double major in chemistry and history and completed a Ph.D. in chemistry at the Ohio State University. She completed post-doctoral research at the University of North Carolina and University at Buffalo.
The 2017/2018 Highlight Seminars Series will be held on Thursdays from 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. in Maeder Hall at the Andlinger Center. Lunch will be served at 12:00 noon in the auditorium lobby of Maeder Hall.