MateriAlZ Seminar: Raphaele Clement
Friday, March 31, 2023 - 10:45 a.m. MST
Raphaële Clément
Assistant Professor in the Materials Department
University of California, Santa Barbara
"Linking Synthesis, Composition, and Performance in Li-ion and Na-ion Battery Materials Using Magnetic Resonance Tools"
Zoom link; Passcode: 22685
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Abstract
Batteries have transformed our daily lives and hold the key to a low-carbon future. Yet, current Li-ion chemistries are approaching their theoretical performance limit. Remarkably, we continue to rely on a limited subset of Li-ion battery materials –– most commercial cathodes derive from LiCoO2 developed in 1980 –– that cannot meet our ever-growing need for energy storage. The development of more sustainable, energy-dense, and/or safer batteries hinges on designing new cathode chemistries and crystal structures that depart from the traditional layered transition metal oxides, as well as non-flammable solid electrolytes.
In this talk, I will present our recent work combining solid-state NMR, first principles simulations, and other advanced tools to relate synthesis, structure, and properties in various classes of battery materials. For example, our work on Li-ion rocksalt oxyfluoride cathodes emphasizes the importance of 7Li/19F solid-state NMR to determine the true composition of such systems and establish robust materials design rules and introduces a new, rapid, and energy-efficient synthesis procedure to obtain those materials. Our work on Li- and Na-ion conducting rocksalt halide electrolytes reveals their high propensity for polymorphism and for the formation of planar defects, with resulting structural and ion conduction properties that can be modulated by changing the synthesis conditions.
Bio
Dr. Clément is an assistant professor in the Materials Department at the University of California Santa Barbara. She received her Ph.D. in chemistry in 2016 from the University of Cambridge, working under the supervision of Prof. Clare Grey. Her doctoral work focused on the study of layered sodium transition metal oxide cathodes for Na-ion secondary batteries. She then joined the group of Prof. Gerbrand Ceder at the University of California Berkeley, focusing on cation-disordered rocksalt oxyfluorides for Li-ion battery applications. She joined the Faculty at UCSB in 2018. Her primary research focus is the development and implementation of magnetic resonance techniques (experimental and computational) for the study of battery materials and beyond, with a strong emphasis on operando tools. She received the NSF CAREER award in 2022, is an associate editor for Battery Energy, a new open-access journal by Wiley, and is on the editorial advisory board of ACS Energy Letters.