Chockkalingam (Chock) Karuppaiah
Founder and Chairman, Vetri Labs, U.S.
Chief Technology Officer, Ohmium, U.S.

Date: July 14, 2021
Time: 1300h ET
Sponsor: Gamry Instruments & Hiden Analytical

Be it improving energy density or cycle life or reducing cost, understanding the failure modes of batteries in a non-destructive mode is critical during the design, product development, and manufacturing of lithium ion batteries. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) provides the ability to access and decouple the failure modes based on the processes’ time scale. Analysis of recorded EIS can be done either through phenomenological modelling or equivalent circuit modelling, with each having its own pros and cons.

This webinar reviews the basics of applying EIS for understanding the phenomena in lithium ion batteries, the experimental details and protocols, and the types of models with a few case studies. (more…)

When the Washington Post publicized the launch of North America’s first all-electric, zero-emissions boats, they referred to an authoritative article on battery safety in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society. The introduction of two electric Maid of the Mist tour vessels at Niagara Falls heralds a new era in maritime travel. The boats, which run on dual banks of lithium ion batteries charged with hydro-electric power supplied by the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant, are a zero-emission operation. But are their Li-ion batteries safe? (more…)

Are you a student working on energy storage and conversion? Join us at the 239th ECS Meeting with the 18th International Meeting on Chemical Sensors (IMCS) for the opportunity to present your research! The special symposium, entitled A04-Battery Student Slam 5, is dedicated to students working on energy storage and energy conversion.

The student slam offers students the opportunity to present flash oral presentations of their work in a 10-minute time slot. All students enrolled at any valid degree-granting institution may submit an abstract describing the presentation. New materials and designs, performance studies, and modeling of all types of batteries, supercapacitors and fuel cells, including aqueous, non-aqueous, polymer electrolytes, solid electrolytes, and flow systems are of particular interest. (more…)

For months, Impact Canada has been working hard on narrowing down five finalists to work on the Charging the Future Challenge, a $4.5-million project aimed at accelerating made-in-Canada clean battery innovations with the potential to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The five selected finalists will have the opportunity to pitch their ideas for battery breakthroughs to a jury for a chance to win up to $700,000 each to develop battery prototypes over the course of 18-months, with the winner receiving a $1 million grand prize. (more…)

On June 17, 2020, Dr. Arumugam Manthiram, winner of the 2020 Henry B. Linford Award for Distinguished Teaching, presented his talk on “Intricacies of High-Energy Cathodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries” via a live webinar presentation.

Dr. Manthiram’s talk covered the fundamental science behind the development of high-energy density cathodes for lithium-ion batteries in the 1980s, the richness and complexity of layered oxide cathodes for lithium-ion batteries, and exposure to a perspective on high-energy, long-life, safe lithium-ion batteries.

View Dr. Manthiram’s webinar presentation, here.

Following the talk, attendees were given the opportunity to ask Dr. Manthiram questions in a Q&A session, available below. (more…)

Batteries—they’re all around us, from everyday items like cellphones and laptops to life-saving medical devices and environmentally-friendly electric vehicles. So, who are the people behind the batteries that continue to impact and improve our daily lives?

According to Research Interfaces, the following are the 10 lithium-ion battery researchers to watch. (more…)

In our series, The ECS Community Adapts and Advances, Venkat Viswanathan shares stories of unexpected opportunities and inspiration. To help early career researchers make progress while labs are shuttered and new lab work isn’t possible, he is creating opportunities to showcase their latest work to academic and industry.

Online Battery Symposium Inspires Action

Venkat Viswanathan is a Faculty Fellow at the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). He was scheduled to speak at the second Oxford Battery Modelling Symposium (OBMS) on March 16-17, 2020, just two days after CMU officially went remote. Most speakers could not travel—but they all participated when the event format switched to an interactive, real time webinar. Online participation included over 150 previously registered attendees. (more…)

New, low-cost batteries designed to last for a million miles of use in electric vehicles? Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk says the public can expect just that from the Model 3 sedan, expected to debut in China late this year or early next. 

According to Reuters, the new “million mile” battery—which relies on low-cobalt and cobalt-free battery chemistries, among others—was jointly developed with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL). Reuter’s sources say CATL plan on supplying Tesla with an improved long-life nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery whose cathode is 50% nickel and only 20% cobalt sometime next year. (more…)

“Good enough” are just words in his last name, but not ones John B. Goodenough seems to live by. The 97-year-old, widely referred to as the “father of the lithium-ion batteries,” continues to awe the battery field. According to IEEE Spectrum, the 2019 Nobel Prize winner recently co-developed a rapid-charging, non-flammable, glass battery.

The high capacity battery charges in “minutes rather than hours,” according to Maria Helena Braga, professor of engineering at the University of Porto in Portugal, who worked with Goodenough to develop the solid state lithium rechargeable which uses a glass doped with alkali metals as the battery’s electrolyte. In addition, the solid state electrolyte is not flammable and preforms in both cold and hot weather. (more…)