About the series
PROFESSOR LYNDEN ARCHER
- Director of the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University
ABSTRACT
Polymer-particle composites are used in virtually every field of science and technology. This lecture focuses on a particular class of such hybrid nanocomposites created through synthesis of nanoparticles densely grafted with short polymer chains. A dense suspension of these nanoparticles provides a convenient platform for fabricating porous materials in which functional groups tethered to the surface of particles can be internalized and presented on pore walls to regulate ion transport. Such materials inspire novel options for rationally designing electrolytes for batteries that utilize energetic metals such as lithium, sodium, or aluminum as the active material. They thus blur the lines between batteries and fuel cells both in terms of their operating principles and the amount of electrochemical energy stored per unit mass of active material in the electrodes.
This talk will consider electrodeposition of energetic metals, transport processes, and materials aspects towards application of hybrid nanocomposites in next-generation energy storage technologies. Generalization of these ideas to create nanostructured membranes that stabilize electrodeposition of metals will be discussed in the context of emerging rechargeable battery technologies required to enable electrified transportation and robotics applications.
BRIEF BIOSKETCH
Dr. Lynden Archer is Distinguished Professor and Director of the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University. He also serves as the co-Director of the KAUST-Cornell Center for Energy and Sustainability. His research focuses on transport properties of polymers and polymer/particle hybrids and their applications for electrochemical energy storage. Archer is a co-founder and Advisory Board Member of NOHMs Technologies, a technology company seeking to commercialize hybrid electrolytes for high-voltage lithium ion and high-energy lithium-sulfur batteries. Archer received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Stanford and the B.S. in chemical engineering (polymer science) from the University of Southern California. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and Associate Editor of the AAAS journal ScienceAdvances. He has received a number of awards, including the 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AICHE) Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum (NSEF); the Thompson-Reuters World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds - Materials Science, 2014; the Merrill Presidential Scholar and Most Influential Faculty Member (Cornell 2014); the Outstanding Alumni Award (U. Southern California 2012); the James & Mary Tien Excellence in Teaching Award (Cornell 2008); as well as a special creativity award from NSF.
This is an NSF Distinguished Lecture co-sponsored by the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences and the Directorate for Engineering.
