Scientific Events

Portable and stationary rechargeable batteries are within the many energy-related technologies that require fast progress within the urgent need of remediation of global climate. For example, batteries can still represent up to a third of electric vehicles emissions due to their manufacturing process and lack of end-of-life management. Developing fundamentally sustainable battery materials and electrode processing stands as a central strategy for efficient battery recycling. One essential requirement of next-generation battery technologies is the substitution of costly elements like Li and Co by widely (and more evenly) available ones like Na and Fe in the electrode materials. This implies the development of new energy storage materials, as well synthetic methods. Materials with porous and hollow morphologies are one of the promising approaches in achieving long-term stability in batteries. Such structures can buffer volumetric changes associated with many energy storage mechanisms (like conversion reactions or ion insertion), avoiding effects like aggregation, structure collapse and loss of conductivity which leads to poor electrochemical performance. Prussian blue (PB, KFe[Fe(CN)₆]) and its analogues (PBA, AM[M’(CN)₆]) are cheap, easy to synthesize, non-toxic, biocompatible, water and air-stable metal complexes. They have an intrinsic porous framework structure that allows ion intercalation with very little or no strain. Their metal centers are electroactive in both organic and aqueous media. Therefore, this class of materials is ideal for battery electrode applications, achieving high stability and capacity without the need for complex synthetic routes. The tunability of PB(A) structure and composition also makes them versatile template materials. Through different derivatization methods, PB derivatives (PBD) can be prepared. Regardless of the relatively simple structure of PB(A), PBDs present an ever-growing number of compositions that encompass metal oxides, sulfides, phosphides, carbides, hybrids (among others), and an array of morphologies from simple cubes to highly complex hollow and porous structures. Such PBD have recently demonstrated state of the art performance in catalysis and energy storage applications. This talk will give an overview of the current challenges and strategies to achieve high-performance sustainable batteries, with a focus on PB- and PBD-based electrode materials. [more]

Recovery and Utilization of Materials from electronic waste via Cryomilling to Develop Advanced Green Technologies Krishanu Biswas^#Electronic waste (e-waste) causes enormous societal and environmental impact when they enter the trash stream. It has emerged as the fastest-growing waste source in recent decades throughout the universe. The global accumulation of e-waste is expected to reach 74 Mt by 2030, nearly doubling in tonnage over this decade (2020-2030). The act of indiscriminate e-waste dumping, along with inefficient and unorthodox e-waste handling, is indisputably detrimental to economic and public health. Since e-waste has dramatically increased the impact on the environment, developing sustainable solutions for recovery and recycling is of prime importance. In this direction, the present research aims to establish an easily scalable and novel green technique to rejuvenate and effectively use metallic, ceramic and polymeric components of the e-waste by use of cryo-grinding in an ecologically responsible and energy-efficient manner. The low-temperature grinding method that breaks down PCBs all the way into nanoscaled particles, further enabling enhanced physical separation of the different base constituent materials that are the polymer, oxide, and metal. The recovered materials are easy to be beneficiated as the nanoscale particles produced from grinding are mostly single phase particles, compared to the larger particles obtained by other methods that are multiphase mixtures of various constituents. The metallic content is utilized to electrochemically selectively reduce CO₂ into distinct gaseous products, resulting in the generation of CH₄, and H₂ as main gaseous products at neutral pH. On the other hand, the extracted polymeric component is utilized to synthesize graphene/CNT using pulsed laser ablation (PLA) in a liquid media, showing promise in synthesizing high-quality graphene, which may be enhanced further by tweaking the PLA process parameters. The synthesized graphene was utilized to fabricate highly conductive electrical connections, revealing the excellent functional capacity of crystalline graphene. Polymeric content along with ceramic are being utilized for making electrical switch boards. In a nutshell, this green technique provided means of extracting main components from e-waste, via low temperature grinding, which can then be utilized to make green energy, precious materials like graphene/CNT, and other engineering applications in an ecologically responsible manner, making the process sustainable and hence, solving a global problem. [more]

Electrochemical energy storage is the key enabling component of electric vehicles and solar/wind-based energy technologies. The enhancement of energy stored requires the detailed understanding of ionic transport and electrochemical and electromechanical phenomena on local scales which are not always accessible with classical electrochemical techniques, such as voltammetry. Therefore, local probing of electrochemical and electromechanical behaviors on individual structural elements and heterogeneities, from grains to defects and further to individual atomic and molecular species, are invaluable. In this talk, I want to introduce force-based atomic force microscopies (AFM) to provided novel insights into local electrochemical processes on tens of nanometer and even molecular length under electrochemical control. I will highlight the development and application of in situ/operando force-based AFM methods to gain insight into the local charge storage mechanism in a variety of energy related materials. In the first part of the talk, I will showcase how AFM can be used to investigate the structure and dynamics of the electric double layer (EDL) for electrochemical capacitors. I want to highlight work on room temperature ionic liquids on model graphene electrodes since ionic liquids hold the promise of increasing the electrochemical stability windows for electrochemical capacitors. AFM was used to observe topological defects and show the existence of structural domains parallel to the solid-liquid interface towards a full picture of the double layer structure and their change with applied bias. In the second part of the talk, I want to highlight how AFM-based methods can be used to study ionic transport and local electrochemical reactions in supercapacitors and battery materials. Here, electro-chemo-mechanical coupling is the key to study ion insertion pathways and heterogeneities in local redox reactions. The first is demonstrated for the cation insertion into layered Ti3C2 electrodes based on their change in mechanical stiffness whereas the second is highlighted for proton insertion into WO3 where the relationship between electrochemical current and electrode strain are discussed. [more]

The advent of solid-state batteries has spawned a recent increase in interest in lithium conducting solid electrolytes. However, many open questions remain when trying to optimize electrolytes and understand solid state battery chemistries. In this presentation, we will show how an understanding of the structure-transport properties can help tailor the ionic conductivity. In an exemplary study on superionic lithium metal halides, we show that a cation site-disorder and the local structure of materials is important to study, especially as synthetic influences control materials properties. In a second part of this presentation, we will show the tremendous influence of lattice dynamics on ionic conductors. By introducing a different approach to understanding ionic motion using phonon occupations, we try to explain so far unexplained behaviors of physical ionic transport. Finally, we will show that it is not only important to find fast ionic conductors, but that fast ionic conduction is paramount within solid state battery composites. Measuring the effective ionic transport in cathode composites provides an avenue to explore transport and stability limitations that in turn provide better criteria for solid state battery performance Bio: Wolfgang Zeier received his doctorate in Inorganic Chemistry in 2013 from the University of Mainz. After postdoctoral stays at the University of Southern California, the California Institute of Technology, and Northwestern University, he was appointed group leader at the University of Giessen, within the framework of an Emmy-Noether research group. Since 2020 he holds a professorship for Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Münster. In addition, he heads a department at the Helmholtz-Institute Münster, Ionics in Energy Storage. His research interests encompass the fundamental structure-to-property relationships in solids, with a focus on thermoelectric and ion-conducting materials, as well as solid-solid interfacial chemistry for all-solid-state batteries. [more]

In order to address climate change, we must transition to a low-carbon economy. Many clean primary energy sources, such as solar panels and wind turbines, are being deployed and promise an abundant supply of clean electricity in the near future. The key question becomes how to store, transport and trade this clean energy in a manner that is as convenient as fossil fuels. The Alternative Fuels Laboratory (AFL) at McGill University is actively researching the use of recyclable metal fuels as a key enabling technology for a low-carbon society. Metal fuels, reduced using clean primary energy, have the highest energy density of any chemical fuel and are stable solids, simplifying trade and transport. The chemical energy stored in the metal fuels can be converted to useful thermal or motive power through two main routes: the Dry Cycle, where metal powders/sprays are burned with air, or the Wet Cycle, where metal powders are reacted with water to produce hydrogen and heat as an intermediate step before using the hydrogen as a fuel for various power systems. This talk will overview the concept of metal fuels and the various power system options. It will also touch on the combustion and reaction physics of metal fuels and the propagation of metal flames. Bio: Jeffrey Bergthorson is the Panda Faculty Scholar in Sustainable Engineering and Design, and a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, at McGill University where he leads the Alternative Fuels Laboratory. He received his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manitoba (1999), and his M.Sc. (2000) and Ph.D. (2005) in Aeronautics from the Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories of the California Institute of Technology. Prof. Bergthorson is a Fellow of the Combustion Institute and a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Prof. Bergthorson’s research interests are in the broad area of the combustion and emissions properties of alternative and sustainable fuels, including biofuels, hydrogen, and the use of metals as recyclable fuels. [more]

In 2020, every major company’s annual report contained the word digitalization, A.I. or industry 4.0. It is easy to perceive these as buzzwords, aimed at investors, but the reality is more complex: companies are expected to transform now, driven by the fear of becoming obsolete. As researchers, this exciting transition creates significant opportunities: huge amounts of data are becoming readily available, while computing power and machine learning (ML) algorithms are more accessible than ever. However, this is also leading to disproportionate hopes and expectations regarding the actual capabilities of such methods, that only a working knowledge of ML combined with technical expertise in your field can rationalize. As R&D engineers, this critical view will be expected from you. Since technical expertise has already been the focus of your professional career, the effort should therefore be put on acquiring a practical knowledge of ML, that is, what problems can be solved and how to solve them? In this talk, some applications of ML to solve industrial issues (predictive modeling, visualization, combination with physical models...) will be discussed. Furthermore, practical aspects, such as data preparation, models implementation and maintenance will be reviewed, with the aim of providing actual insights on the root causes of successes and failures of ML applied to the steelmaking process. [more]

Besides their ubiquitous use in load-bearing structures, metals also possess qualities of energetic materials. Lithium, for example, is a common fuel in batteries, while aluminum is frequently added to solid rocket propellants and used in pyrotechnics. At high temperatures, metal powders can be burned in air in a similar way to hydrocarbon fuels, releasing chemically stored energy as sensible heat. Contrary to hydrocarbon combustion, however, the main reaction products are solid oxide particles that can, in principle, be retrieved from the exhaust fumes. This amenability to oxide sequestration has stimulated the idea of harnessing metal powders as recyclable energy carriers which are burned, retrieved and, subsequently, recharged by a reduction process based on clean primary energy. Conceptually, the metal powders are akin to high-temperature batteries, serving as a means to buffer the large spatial and temporal intermittency associated with renewable energy sources. Motivated by the potential use of metal powders as recyclable fuels, we qualitatively discuss the physical and chemical processes involved in the combustion of a single metal particle and of metal dusts, respectively. Subsequently, a population balance model for predicting the size distribution of the oxide smoke precipitating in the vicinity of a single burning aluminum particle is presented. Here, we specifically focus on the kinetic rates that control the phase transitions and smoke dynamics, integrating recently developed detailed kinetics for gas phase and heterogeneous surface reactions. The population balance equation governing the oxide size distribution is solved with the aid of a tailored adaptive grid method. An alternative, potentially more economical solution approach we propose is based on an embedded reduced order representation of the particle size distribution that is informed by a training step. The accuracy and convergence properties of this method are investigated for a simplified test case involving particle growth and dispersion in a laminar plane jet. In the final part of the seminar, the physical description, from an Eulerian viewpoint, of metal powders is discussed with a particular emphasis on the ramifications of carrier flow turbulence. In order to account for the small-scale interactions between dispersed particles and the ambient gas phase, the population balance equation governing the metal powder or oxide smoke is integrated into a probabilistic description that naturally accounts for the variability among independent realizations of a turbulent, particle-laden flow. Owing to the high dimensionality of the resulting transport equations, a stochastic solution approach based on Eulerian stochastic fields is proposed for which we show preliminary accuracy and convergence analyses.