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Nano-Architected Lattices and Sharp-Interface Reaction Conversion Electrodes

ME-EM Graduate Seminar Speaker Series

proudly presents:

Claudio V. Di Leo, PhD

Georgia Institute of Technology

Abstract: Accelerating the pace of discovery and deployment of novel materials for electrochemical energy storage is of critical importance. Current long development cycles are in large part due to the fact that most design of materials and structures is done through costly and time-consuming trial and error experiments. The focus of our research at the Multiphysics Mechanics of Materials Lab is the application of fundamental mechanics of materials principles towards the development of models which allow us to predict the coupled chemo-mechanical behavior of these materials.

This talk will focus on next generation lithium-metal alloy electrodes which make us of Si, Sn, Al, Au, and Ge which have the potential to revolutionize the energy storage industry. First, we will discuss the development of novel nano-architected electrochemically active lattices which can accommodate the associated high-volume expansion of the conversation electrodes through elastic instabilities (Xia et al., Nature, 573, 2019). Second, we will present a novel thermodynamically consistent framework for capturing the deformation-diffusion-reaction processes ongoing in conversion-type electrodes. Here we develop a theoretical framework which couples the diffusion and sharp interface reaction of a species in a host material with the associated mechanical deformation and microstructural evolution. The coupled theory results in a gradient based phase-field formulation which is numerically solved in finite elements. The theory will be used to elucidate the role of mechanical stress on Lithiation and Sodiation of FeS₂.

Bio: Claudio V. Di Leo is an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Di Leo received his PhD (2015), MS (2013), and BS (2010) in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where his research focused on modeling hydrogen diffusion in metals and the chemo-mechanics of Li-ion batteries. In November 2016, Dr. Di Leo joined the faculty at Georgia Tech. His research interests lie in the coupling between chemistry and mechanics of materials, in particular how we harness this coupling for improved chemical and mechanical performance. His current research focuses on nano-architected electrochemically active lattices, sharp-interface reactions in solids, and environment-induced cracking of Al-Mg alloys.

Invited by: Trisha Sain