A new issue of ECS Transactions (ECST) has just been published. This issue incorporates 42 papers presented at the 18th International Conference on Advanced Batteries, Accumulators and Fuel Cells (ABAF 2017). This conference was held in Brno, Czech Republic, September 10-13, 2017.
ECST Volume 81, Issue 1 is now available in the ECS Digital Library. This issue is also available for purchase as an electronic (PDF) edition through the ECS Online Store.
Below is an excerpt from an article published in the winter 2017 edition of Interface.
By: Durga Misra, New Jersey Institute of Technology
The explosive progress of information technology and 5th generation communication technology enables the introduction of the Internet of Things, where the network of physical objects—devices, vehicles, and buildings embedded with sensors, electronics, software, and network connectivity—permits these physical objects to collect and exchange data. The use of dielectric materials in sensors for a multitude of applications such as self-driving cars has made the dielectric science and technology research even more significant than before.
More than seventy years ago, in 1945, it all started with establishing the Electric Insulation Division in ECS to offer an interdisciplinary forum to discuss the science of the materials used for electrical insulation in power transmission. With the advancement of technology, when integrated circuits became popular, the division became the Dielectrics and Insulation Division in 1965. In 1990, it became the Dielectric Science and Technology Division due to extensive growth in electronic manufacturing technology. Today, the division still provides a strong interdisciplinary research environment.
In this issue of Interface we have focused on some of the current topics that are an integral part of current and future technologies.
By: Brian Nosek, Center for Open Science
In the Fall of 2011, Sarah Mackenzie, the maid of honor at my wedding, was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer. Sarah and her family were motivated to learn as much as they could about the disease to advocate for her care. They weren’t scientists, but they started searching the literature for relevant articles. One evening, Sarah called us, angry. Every time she found an article that might be relevant to understanding her disease, she ran into a paywall requiring $15-$40 to access it. Public money had paid for the research, yet she was barred from making any use of it. Luckily, she had us. Most people in Sarah’s position don’t have the luxury of friends at wealthy academic institutions with subscriptions to the literature.
During this time, I was pursuing an interest in the business models of scholarly communication. I wanted to understand the ways in which these models interfered with the dissemination of knowledge that could improve quality of life. Sarah’s experience illustrated one key part of the problem–the outcomes of research should be public goods, but the business models of publishing make them exclusive goods. Lack of access to published literature limits our ability to apply what we know to improving others’ quality of life. If doctors can’t access the literature, they can’t keep up with the latest innovations for care. If policy makers can’t access the literature, they can’t create evidence based policies. To advance solutions and cures, the outcomes of research must be open.
Did you know that ECS is partnered with Curran Associates to provide print-on-demand (POD) editions of a nearly complete catalogue of ECS Transactions issues? For all those who prefer a print edition, you are in luck!
The enhanced issues from ECS Transactions volume 80 (232nd ECS Meeting in National Harbor, MD) are now available for purchase as POD softcover editions from Proceedings.com. More information can be found from the links below:
In addition to the National Harbor enhanced issues, Curran offers hundreds of other print-on-demand ECST titles dating back to 2006. Visit Proceedings.com for a complete listing of available issues.
By: Yanbo Qi, Taejin Jang, Venkatasailanathan Ramadesigan, Daniel T. Schwartz, and Venkat R. Subramanian
This article refers to a recently published open access paper in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society, “Is There a Benefit in Employing Graded Electrodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries?”
The contour plot for the resistance of a 2-layer graded cathode with different porosity combinations. Layer 1 is the layer near the separator, and layer 2 is near the current collector. The blue dot represents the point of minimum resistance (5.1164 Ω-cm2) for the 2-layer graded electrode. The diagonal line of ε1 = ε2 is equivalent to the single layer uniform case. The intersection point (5.3510 Ω-cm2) of the diagonal line with the contour is the optimal point for single layer design. The hatched area inside the contour represents the search space for 2-layer graded electrode design with resistance no bigger than the uniform optimal case. By introducing the 2-layer graded electrode structure, the feasible region changes from a point to a reasonably sized area. With the extra freedom in design, more objectives can be considered without resulting in an electrode with higher resistance.
Functionally graded materials have been widely developed in various fields, including the solid oxide fuel cells. However, its application in batteries is less common. Using simulation and optimization, both benefits and negligible improvement have been reported in the literature, depending on how the problem is formulated. The cases where people saw little impact by incorporating graded electrode design are cases where only one design objective, the energy density, is considered. While the cases where bigger improvement was reported are either compared to a base case as opposed to the best single layer case or considered with more than one design objectives.
In a recently published paper, we shared our opinion on this controversial topic. We applied two different optimization approaches to the secondary current distribution porous electrode model to confirm the optimal profiles acquired, and to facilitate the multi-objective optimizations later on. When looking at a single objective, minimizing the overall electrode resistance, and comparing with the optimal single layer case, only 4-6% modest reduction can be achieved. Therefore, we agree with the conclusion that for single objective optimization, graded structure does not make a big difference.
However, electrode design is not a simple matter where only one goal is desired. One of the powerful features of battery modeling is that it can give us insights on battery’s internal status, which is difficult to get otherwise. In our paper, we minimized the value and distribution of activation overpotential inside the electrode along with the overall resistance. What we discovered is that even though doing graded electrode cannot reduce the overall resistance much, with the extra design freedom in porosity distribution, the search space increased dramatically in the 2-layer graded electrode case compared to the single uniform layer case. The extra design space is very important in multi-objective optimization, allowing us to take into account other design considerations, including controlling the internal status. We believe that the value of graded electrode lies in the enlarged search space for additional design considerations, not just the improvement in a single objective.
Aligned with ECS’s commitment to Free the Science, we also believe that open access facilitates collaboration and speeds up scientific advancement. We have developed a free electrode design tool on our website (http://depts.washington.edu/maple/Design.html). This open access executable code is readily runnable on any Windows computer without extra software requirement. The tool allows users to change model parameters, thus can accommodate any electrode chemistry. Detailed explanation and instructions can be found on the webpage. We hope that this tool can help the community to achieve better battery performance.
Nine new issues of ECS Transactions (ECST) have just been published for the upcoming 232nd ECS Meeting. The papers in these issues of ECST will be presented in National Harbor, MD, October 1-5, 2017.
ECST volume 80, issues 1 to 9 can now be accessed online through the ECS Digital Library.
These issues are also available for purchase as an electronic (PDF) edition through the ECS Online Store:
By: Alyssa Doyle, ECS Membership Intern
University of Washington Student Chapter
(Click to enlarge)
ECS would like to congratulate our two 2017 Chapters of Excellence winners, the University of Washington and the Munich Student Chapter, who will receive certificates in addition to recognition in Interface for their stellar achievements in continuing to showcase their commitment to ECS’s mission.
The University of Washington’s student chapter has climbed the ranks quite rapidly since it was founded in 2016.
The 60+ members have grown their impact on electrochemical and solid state science and engineering education immensely. Some of their greatest achievements to date include:
By: Alyssa Doyle, ECS Membership Intern
(Click to enlarge.)
ECS would like to congratulate the 2017 Outstanding Student Chapter winner, the University of Maryland for their dedication and commitment to the advancement of solid state and electrochemical science and technology.
The award (formerly The Gwendolyn B. Wood Section Excellence Award) was first created in 2012 to distinguish student chapters that represent and uphold ECS’s mission by maintaining an active student membership base, participating in various technical activities, and organizing community outreach in the fields of electrochemical and solid state science and engineering education.
The University of Maryland student chapter has come a long way since its initial approval in 2011 and has become one of ECS’s most exemplary chapters. The chapter previously won the Outstanding Student Chapter award in 2013 and has been a Chapter of Excellence for the last three years.
By: Alyssa Doyle, ECS Membership Intern
As a student registrant, you have several unique opportunities to get involved in the 232nd ECS Meeting in National Harbor, MD.
Student Mixer (sponsored by BMW)
As an upcoming leader in the electrochemistry and solid state science professions, students are encouraged to attend the mixer to network with their future colleagues. Light refreshments and food will be available.
The event is being held on Monday from 1900-2100h. Student member tickets are $5 and student nonmember tickets $15.
Career Expo
A pilot-program for the society biannual meeting, the event creates the opportunity for employers/recruiters to meet and interview job-seekers, volunteers, and post-doctoral candidates in electrochemistry and solid state science.
The event will be located in the Exhibit Hall during the technical exhibit hours. Free to all meeting registrants.
Author Information Session
Join Robert Savinell, Dennis Hess, and Jeff Fergus for insight into opportunities available for publishing with ECS, understanding the journals continuous publication model and types of articles published by ECS, how to publish open access and how ECS’s Free the Science initiative supports open access for authors, where content is accessible after publication, and more.
The event will be located in Maryland 4 on Tuesday from 1600h-1700h. Open to all meeting attendees.
By: John Staser, division vice chair and Assistant Professor at Ohio University
As vice chair of the Industrial Electrochemistry and Electrochemical Engineering Division, it is with great pleasure that I introduce the summer 2017 edition of Interface.
The authors of the articles you are about to read all worked tirelessly, and we owe them acknowledgement and significant gratitude for putting this issue together. Without their contributions, we would not be able to deliver the consistent quality of content that you expect in Interface.
We as a division hope to highlight the diverse activities of our members.
In the following pages you will find articles authored by industrial and academic members, with foci ranging from environmental applications to mathematical modeling to large-scale industrial production of metals. Such breadth is evidence that our division’s activities, as has been the case in the past, are ever evolving.
