Materials and Process Design for Sustainable Electrochemical Energy Storage

Abstract: The development of next-generation energy storage devices and systems relies on materials with significantly improved performance and lower cost. The objective of my research is to enhance energy storage performance (e.g. energy capacity, power density, stability, safety) and to reduce the cost of batteries. In this talk, I will mainly discuss two topics: (1) Design of low-cost and sustainable battery electrode materials. I will first show how organic materials can be used in lithium ion batteries. By carefully tuning their molecule structures and choosing compatible electrolytes, petroleum-derived organic molecules can provide similar level of capacity and cycling stability with current oxide based electrodes. (2) Design of energy-efficient recycling and regeneration process for spent batteries. The increasing amount of lithium ion battery consumption will result in the resource shortage and price increase of lithium and precious transition metals (Co, Ni etc.). In addition, the wastes generated from disposal of used batteries can cause severe environment pollution. I will talk about an effective strategy to recycle and regenerate spent batteries using a “non-destructive” approach, which will lead to new electrode materials that can show the same level of performance as the native materials.

Biography: Dr. Zheng Chen is an Assistant Professor in NanoEngineering department and Materials Science Program at UC San Diego. He received his B.S. from Tianjin University (2007) and Ph.D. from UCLA (2012, with Prof. Yunfeng Lu), both in Chemical Engineering. He did his postdoc at Stanford University with Profs. Zhenan Bao and Yi Cui. He is generally interested in materials for energy storage and conversion. He was awarded Student Science Talented Award (Tianjin University), Department Outstanding Graduate Award (UCLA), Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed PhD Students Studying Abroad and MRS Graduate Student Award. Chen is named a 2017 Scialog Fellow in Advanced Energy Storage by Research Corporation for Science Advancement. He is also one of the winners of the 1st LG Chem. global Battery Innovation Contest (BIC) in 2017.