Prof. Arumugam Manthiram from Department of Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering Program, at University of Texas – Austin will deliver an invited seminar on “Next-generation Battery Technologies” jointly hosted by Chemistry and Center for Research in Energy & Environment, on 21st October from 4 pm in G3 Schrenk Hall. Light refreshments will be served before the seminar in G3 Schrenk. Following is the abstract of his talk along with information about the speaker.

Next-generation Battery Technologies

Abstract: Rapid increase in global energy use and growing environmental
concerns have prompted the development of clean, sustainable, alternative
energy technologies. Renewable energy sources like solar and wind are a
promising solution, but electrical energy storage (EES) is critical to
efficiently utilize them as they are intermittent. EES is also the only viable
near-term option for transportation. Rechargeable batteries are prime
candidates for EES, but their widespread adoption for electric vehicles and
grid electricity storage requires optimization of cost, cycle life, safety, energy density, power density, and environmental impact, all of which are directly linked to severe materials challenges. After providing a brief account of the current status, this presentation will focus on the development of advanced materials and new battery chemistries. Specifically, lithium-based batteries based on low-cobalt oxide and sulfur cathodes and interdigitated alloy anodes will be presented. The challenges of bulk and surface instability and chemical crossover during charge-discharge cycling, advanced characterization methodologies to develop an in-depth understanding, and approaches to overcome the challenges will be presented.

About the speaker:
Arumugam Manthiram is currently the Cockrell Family
Regents Chair in Engineering and Director of the Texas Materials Institute and the Materials Science and Engineering Program at the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin). He received his Ph.D. degree in chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in 1981. After working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford and at UT-Austin with Professor John Goodenough, the 2019 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, he became a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UT Austin in 1991. Dr. Manthiram’s research is focused on clean energy technologies: rechargeable batteries, fuel cells, and supercapacitors. He has authored more than 760 journal articles with 57,000 citations and an h-index of 121. He directs a large research group with about 30 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
Dr. Manthiram is an elected fellow of six professional societies: Materials Research Society, Electrochemical Society, American Ceramic Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and World Academy of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering. He is also an elected member of the World Academy of Ceramics. He received the university-wide (one per year) Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award in 2012, the Battery Division Research Award from the Electrochemical Society in 2014, the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in 2015, the Billy and Claude R. Hocott Distinguished Centennial Engineering Research Award in 2016, and the Da Vinci Award in 2017. He is a Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher in 2017 and 2018.