2021 Technical Division Student Poster Contest: FMD 2021 Technical Division Graduate Student Poster Contest
Program Organizers: TMS Administration

Monday 5:30 PM
March 15, 2021
Room: RM 9
Location: TMS2021 Virtual


A Flexible Aqueous Rechargeable Battery Operating Over an Extended Temperature Range: Yehong Chen1; Ying Wang1; 1LSU
    The emerging zinc-ion rechargeable batteries have attracted much attention, owing to their intrinsic safety and low cost resulted from the use of aqueous electrolytes and zinc anodes that come from abundant sources. However, it is not practical to use zinc-ion batteries in frigid environments due to their liquid water-based electrolytes. We have developed a flexible zinc-ion battery consisting of a novel hydrogel electrolyte sandwiched between an ultrathin zinc anode and a NH4V3O8·1.9H2O cathode. With hydrogel electrolyte containing 4 M ZnCl2, the battery exhibits a very high capacity of 239 mAh g-1 under 0.2 A g-1 at -20℃. This battery will find a niche in the market where safety is most concerned and/or wider temperature application is required, such as in wearable electronics, medical devices/implants, electronics in space systems or underwater vehicles for ocean explorations, etc.

Degradation Characterization in Low Cobalt Lithium-ion Intercalation Cathodes: Hernando Gonzalez Malabe1; Austin Gabhart1; Megan Flannagin1; Alex L'Antigua1; George Nelson1; 1The University of Alabama in Huntsville
     Higher capacity layered transition metal oxide cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIB) are being pursued to improve overall LIB capacity. The present work seeks to connect morphological and chemical changes within the cathode microstructure to charge cut-off voltage, electrode composition, and operating temperature to better describe degradation behavior in low cobalt intercalation cathodes. To correlate these factors with the electrode degradation a combined ex-situ and in operando characterization approach is being pursued. Here, results are presented from cyclic voltammetry (CV), ex-situ characterization by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).Current results show an acceleration of the degradation process at higher voltage, as demonstrated by significant capacity loss and peak shifts in CV data indicating altered electrochemical activity. Evidence of additional phase formation is observed in XRD of cycled batteries, with the corresponding breakdown of active material particles seen with SEM imaging.

Using Distribution of Relaxation Times Analysis and Microstructural Characterization to Quantify the Effects of Nanoparticle Infiltrants on the Catalytic Activity of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Anodes: Jillian Mulligan1; Boshan Mo1; Uday Pal1; Srikanth Gopalan1; Soumendra Basu1; 1Boston University
    Improvements in the intermediate-temperature operation and expansion of the applications of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) requires mitigation of anode activation polarization while maintaining long-term microstructural stability during use. Infiltrating nanoparticle electrocatalysts into SOFC anodes has been shown to increase the number of electrochemically actives sites, thereby decreasing charge transfer polarization losses and improving performance. In this study, Nickel was infiltrated into Ni-YSZ SOFC anodes. The microstructures of these infiltrated anodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of fracture cross sections, and their performance quantified in-operando using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The kinetics of various charge transfer processes were modeled using distribution of relaxation times (DRT) analysis of the EIS spectra.

Utilizing Advanced Manufacturing for the Development of Advanced In-pile Sensors and Instrumentation: Kiyo Fujimoto1; Thomas Holschuh1; Lance Hone1; Michael McMurtrey1; Patrick Moo1; Troy Unruh1; Dave Estrada2; 1Idaho National Laboratory; 2Boise State University
    As part of the Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies Advanced Sensors and Instrumentation program, Idaho National Laboratory and Boise State University have recently established capabilities to develop, fabricate and test advanced manufactured (AM) in-pile sensors and instrumentation. Incorporation of AM techniques provides a solution for instrumentation challenges associated with space-limited applications while also enabling significant expansion of device design possibilities. A significant thrust of this work includes the development of AM feedstock to create a database of nuclear grade inks, and initial efforts towards down selecting materials were guided by efforts in AM peak temperature sensors and AM neutron dosimeter development. Recent work includes benchmark testing the response of AM melt wire materials and AM neutron dosimeters against their classically fabricated counterparts to evaluate performance reliability. These recent efforts demonstrate the significant potential for incorporating AM techniques for the development of miniaturized and novel sensors and instrumentation for in-pile applications.