Battery and supercapacitor researchers at MSU

Building a better battery or supercapacitor requires the knowledge and research experience of a wide range of scientists, from mathematicians and physicists who model and test new energy storage ideas, to chemists who create novel complex materials, to engineers who design and test working prototypes.

Learn more about MSU's energy storage research priorities.

The faculty listed below exemplify MSU efforts in the battery and supercapacitor research domains. They also pursue related research topics, including novel fuel cells and thermoelectric materials.

Graphite Platelet Technology

Lawrence T. Drzal, University Distinguished Professor of chemical engineering and materials science, studies the use of graphite as a platelet nano reinforcement for supercapacitors and batteries. A key requirement is the ability to exfoliate the material, because successful exfoliation and dispersion of graphite in a polymer matrix can result in a composite with excellent mechanical and electrical properties.

In the Drzal group’s research, a special thermal treatment is applied to the graphite flakes to produce exfoliated graphite reinforcements. Intercalated natural crystalline graphite compounds (GICs) are formed followed by exfoliation and milling to produce sub-micron graphite flakes with an average size of 0.86 μm and a thickness of around 5 nm.

Advanced Battery Materials

Wei Lai, assistant professor of chemical engineering and materials science, is researching novel electrode
materials and monolithic electrode architecture for high energy and high power batteries. His lab is working on all-solidstate batteries and supercapacitors, which remove the problem of liquid leakage and greatly enlarges the possibility of fl exible system design.

His lab also studies the novel application of linear and nonlinear impedance spectroscopy for characterization of material properties and battery performance degradation.

Electrode Design

Lithium batteries have the highest energy density of all batteries, making them attractive for hybrid electric stationary vehicles, powering microelectronics, and space exploration. The energy delivered, however, tends to diminish at low temperatures or at high discharge rates. The energy density and power density are inversely proportional.

Research in the group of Jeff Sakamoto, assistant professor of chemical engineering and materials science, is focused on tailoring electrode design and materials by investigating hierarchically ordered pore networks with the intent of improving ionic and electronic transport to address kinetic limitations, decoupling energy and power density, i.e., enabling simultaneous improvements in energy and power density. Specifically, the work involves sol-gel derived metal oxide and carbonaceous nanocomposite materials, templating highly ordered, hierarchical pore networks using dissolvable templates, novel patterning processes, and electrical wiring using advanced conductive additives.

Advanced Electrodes and Electrocatalyst Supports

Greg Swain, professor of chemistry, and his research group are interested in understanding how the physical, chemical and electronic properties of carbon electrode materials affect the kinetics and mechanisms of charge
storage and heterogeneous electron-transfer processes. Graphene, various sp²-bonded carbon materials, and boron-doped diamond are materials being investigated and developed. Various electrochemical methods, and in situ spectroscopies and microscopies are being employed to probe structure-function relationships.

For energy storage, the group is investigating how the electrode microstructure and surface chemistry of high surface area, carbon electrodes affect potential-dependent charge storage (energy and power density). High-surface-area forms of graphene, graphite, glassy carbon, carbon black and diamond/diamond-like carbon are being studied in aqueous and organic electrolyte solutions, as well as ionic liquids.

Novel Battery Cathodes

Viktor Poltavets, assistant professor of chemistry, is studying the rational design of novel batteries and strongly correlated electron materials. From his perspective, the area of potentially greatest improvement of battery materials is the cathode. His lab synthesizes new transitional metal compounds with framework or layered structures, and establishes their crystal structures and electrochemical performance.

Composite Polymer Electrolytes (CPEs)

The research group of chemistry professor Gregory Baker develops composite polymer electrolytes (CPEs) based on low-molecular-weight polyethylene oxides (PEOs, such as polyethylene glycol, dimethyl ether), lithium salts (e.g., lithium trifl ate, lithium imide, etc.), and fumed silica. These CPEs provide high room-temperature conductivities, mechanical strength, and stable interfaces. The surface groups on the fumed silica determine the mechanical properties of the CPE while the low-molecular weight PEO and lithium salt determine the ionic transport properties. CPEs show promise as electrolytes for the next generation of rechargeable lithium batteries.

Recently, the CPE approach was extended to nanoparticles embedded in hydrophobic polymers such as polyvinylidene fl uoride (PVDF). The inert PVDF functions as an electrode separator, while the nanoparticles form conductive channels in the PVDF, enabling independent optimization of the conductivity and mechanical properties of CPEs. The lithium salts in these electrolytes are polymers attached to silica nanoparticle surfaces, leading to single ion conductors with improved properties.

Polymer Electrolyte Membranes (PEM)

Keith Promislow, professor of mathematics, studies polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) technology, which is finding application in both batteries and fuel cells. PEMs in fuel cells can also be coupled with supercapacitors to replace lead-acid batteries in uninterruptable power supply (UPS) applications.

Working with a multidisciplinary team, Promislow is modeling the formation of pores and the conduction of ions within functionalized PEMs, in support of efforts to make membranes more cost-efficient and ionically conductive at high temperatures.

State of Charge (SOC) Control

Fang Zheng Peng, professor of electrical and computer engineering, is working on novel dcdc converters, battery management, and a novel Z-source inverter control strategy to control state of charge (SOC) of the battery, power from the fuel cell, and power to the motor for fuel cell (FC)-battery hybrid electric vehicles (FCHEV).

Traditional pulsewidth modulation inverters require an extra dc/dc converter to interface the battery in FCHEVs. The Z-source inverter utilizes an exclusive Z-source (LC) network to link the main inverter circuit to the FC (or any dc power source). By substituting one of the capacitors in the Z-source with a battery and controlling the shoot-through duty ratio and modulation index independently, one is able to control the FC power, output power, and SOC of the battery at the same time. These facts make the Z-source inverter highly desirable for use in FCHEVs, as the cost and complexity is greatly reduced when compared to traditional inverters.