USP Synthesis of Solid State Electrolytes  

Electrolytes are semi-permeable barriers that permit ion transport but not electron transport. Ion transport must be fast to enable rapid cycling, while electron leakage must be essentially eliminated to ensure high efficiency. Achieving both of these properties in a solid state material is very challenging, and as such electrolytes are often the rate-limiting element in a range of electrochemical devices including batteries, fuel cells, and electrochromic windows. This project is a collaboration with the electrochromic/thin film battery team at NREL lead by Dr. Anne Dillon. The goal is to develop ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP) as a low cost approach for large area/high throughput synthesis of these devices. The team at NREL has successfully developed USP for the synthesis of active electrochromic components such as WO₃ and NiO, and the focus of this project will be on the composite polymer electrolytes. PhD candidate Chi-Ping Li is heading this project.  

Support for this work is being provided by the National Science Foundation through the Renewable Energy Materials Research Science and Engineering Center in collaboration with Dr. Anne Dillon's group at NREL.