Materials and Device Evaluation

The purpose of our research is to provide reliable, independent, and unbiased evaluations of battery (and other technologies) performance and life and the investigation of the underlying physical and chemical properties of materials that govern the performance in these devices.

Electrochemical Analysis and Diagnostics Laboratory (EADL): The EADL specializes in reliable, independent, and unbiased evaluations of battery performance and life as progress measures for Department of Energy, U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium, and independent projects. It consists of 250+ battery testing channels. Small cells (< 100 mAh) for consumer electronics to full-size electrical vehicle batteries (45 kAh) can be accommodated. All tests are conducted in environmentally controlled chambers that span a wide range of temperatures, from well below ambient to well above ambient temperature. The methods employed accelerate the performance degradation process, enabling the collection of data in a relatively short amount of time. These data are then used for modeling and life estimation. 

All testing profiles and data collection is conducted with custom design hardware and software, which provide a high degree of flexibility in evaluation protocols and use-case testing. Based on decades of experience, the EADL provides consultation in test planning, data analysis, and performance evaluation across a variety for energy storage chemistries and technologies.   

Materials and Chemistry Analysis Laboratory: Our laboratory integrates physical, spectroscopic, metallographic, and electrochemical tools within an inert atmosphere to investigate the physical, chemical, and structural properties of a wide range of materials. Building on extensive expertise in data analysis, chemistry and materials science, our goals are to promote development of a given technology through fundamental understanding of materials properties. These techniques are used in a systematic fashion, similar to battery testing at the EADL, thereby allowing comparisons of failure modes within a given technology and, perhaps, across technologies easier.

The classic approach of this laboratory is the Post-Test Facility which evaluates materials changes in aged (i.e., cycled) batteries that lead to reduced performance or failure. For this work, batteries are disassembled within a large glovebox and samples of the battery materials (electrode, separator, current collector, or electrolyte) are characterized without exposure to air. This diagnostic of the aged materials provides additional information, which, previously, could only be inferred.

A wide range of techniques and expertise are integrated in the Materials and Chemistry Analysis Laboratory, including: Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, X-ray Photoemission Spectroscopy, Raman Scattering Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy, High-performance Liquid / Gel Chromatography, Thermal Gravimetric Analysis – Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectroscopy, Impedance Spectroscopy, and X-ray Diffraction.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Laboratory: The  NMRgroup specializes in solid-state systems using high resolution MAS-NMR and static electrochemical in-situ NMR methods to characterize structure activity relationships, ionic mobility in bulk solids, and electrochemical interfaces for new energy storage chemistries. Our work includes utilizing quantitative NMR methodologies in paramagnetic systems to gain an understanding of the local structural changes that occur in a broad range of electroactive materials including lithium rich cathodes, NMC surfaces, and silicon anodes.