Can we Make Safe and Affordable Batteries for Electric Cars and Large-Scale Grid Storage?

MIRA Colloquium Series Webinar

Dr. Steve G. Greenbaum

Distinguished Professor of Physics

Hunter College of the City University of New York

March 28, 2024 (3pm – 4pm MST)

All major automobile companies will cease manufacturing internal combustion-powered vehicles within a timeframe measured in years rather than decades. The need for mitigating “range anxiety” affordably and without sacrificing safety presents a major challenge to present-day lithium-ion technology, which has nearly reached its physical limit in energy density. New chemistries with correspondingly new materials are needed for the next generation of batteries. The major bottleneck in all of these current and proposed  developments is the lack of a suitable electrolyte needed to eliminate the flammable liquid carbonate electrolyte solvents in use today. In the realm of large-scale grid storage, redox flow batteries, in which energy is stored in large electrolyte-containing tanks, are leading candidates because they are not “footprint” limited. Dr. Greenbaum’s laboratory is focused on application of various nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques to help understand the structure and dynamics of energy storage materials, in particular novel electrolytes. In this presentation, Dr. Greenbaum discusses two recent collaborative efforts.

Attend in person at the: Science and Health Building (36) Room 106, NAU.

Alternatively, attend remotely using the following link/information:

https://nau.zoom.us/j/89693781144

Meeting ID: 896 9378 1144

Password: mira

For more information, please email APMS