This is a past event.

Dr. Hong Fang, research assistant professor, of the Physics Department at Virginia Commonwealth University will give a talk on "Design and Understanding Novel Solid Electrolytes" at the next Physics Colloquium.   Please join the presentation on Thursday, October 7th at 4:00pm in Fisher Hall 139. 

Design and Understanding Novel Solid Electrolytes

Abstract:  Solid electrolytes or superionic conductors are solids containing ions (e.g., Li+/Na+/K+) that exhibit extraordinary mobility, allowing them to transport between crystallographic sites and even act like fluid phase in a crystalline matrix. Despite a wide range of solids with superionic phases, most of them only exist at high temperatures. The challenge is to discover or tailor the chemical compositions that give high ionic conductivities and low activation energies at ambient temperature, which is crucial for developing the next-generation all-solid-state batteries that are both powerful and safe. The talk will cover our recent efforts to meet the challenge in the development of novel solid electrolytes with superior properties, especially, by using cluster-ions instead of atomic ions as the building block and by utilizing multiple mechanistic principles.

Bio:  Dr. Fang is a research assistant professor in the Physics Department of Virginia Commonwealth University. He obtained his BS from East China Normal University and Bielefeld Universitaet, Germany. He obtained his first PhD in mineral physics from Tongji university and the second PhD in Condensed Matter Physics from University of Cambridge, UK. Dr. Fang has worked in multiple fields at the interfaces of neutron physics, condensed-matter physics and physical chemistry, with both experimental characterization and computational modeling/simulation methodology. His current research is focused on energy/functional materials, novel carbon-based materials and charged atomic clusters, especially on the use of atomic clusters rather than individual atoms in the materials design, characterization and understanding.