Vismay Chandra
Advisor: Prof. Gleb Yushin

will propose a doctoral thesis entitled,

Application of Chloroaluminate-Based Electrolytes in Lithium and Beyond-Lithium-Ion Batteries
On

Friday, November 6 at 9:30-11:30am
Closed

Abstract

The rapid expansion of electric mobility, grid-scale energy storage, and portable electronics necessitates next-generation rechargeable batteries that fundamentally transcend the safety risks, critical-mineral supply vulnerabilities, and high manufacturing costs of incumbent technologies. Conventional lithium-ion batteries rely on volatile, flammable organic carbonate electrolytes and cobalt/nickel-rich cathodes, presenting severe thermal-runaway hazards and geographic supply-chain dependencies. Consequently, developing earth-abundant, low-cost chemistries is essential for scalable energy storage. Among emerging candidate electrolyte platforms, chloroaluminate systems offer distinctive advantages spanning multiple battery chemistries. Enabled by facile coordination chemistry of chloroaluminates, these electrolytes can be tailored into ambient-temperature ionic liquids, deep eutectic analogues, or low-melting-point inorganic matrices.

This dissertation proposal outlines the investigation and application of chloroaluminate electrolytes across lithium and beyond-Li systems in two primary parts:

• Part 1: Melt-Infiltrated Chloroaluminate Oxychloride Solid Electrolytes for Li and Na Batteries.

  Conventional solid electrolytes suffer from poor solid–solid interfacial contact and processing constraints that limit active material mass loading. The first part proposes a novel chloroaluminate-based oxychloride inorganic solid electrolyte for both Li and Na systems. Preliminary findings demonstrate high room-temperature ionic conductivity and a modest thermal transition, allowing the electrolyte to behave as a low-viscosity liquid when heated to achieve complete, conformal melt-infiltration into tortuous composite electrodes, solidifying upon cooling into an intimate solid-state conducting network. The proposed research will evaluate the electrochemical performance, scalability, and interfacial chemo mechanics of this system to combine the manufacturing simplicity of liquid cells with the safety and mechanical stability of solid-state architectures.

• Part 2: Na–Al Hybrid-Ion Batteries.

  To transition toward abundant, low-cost battery platforms, the second part proposes a hybrid Na–Al battery chemistry coupling an aluminum metal anode with a dual-ion intercalating open-framework cathode operating in a ternary chloroaluminate ionic liquid electrolyte. The proposed work will systematically investigate the co-intercalation mechanisms of Na and Al species into the cathode host, assess the structural stability of the cathode during extended cycling, and determine the influence of salt concentration in the ionic liquid on ionic conductivity, transport properties, and overall cell performance.

Committee

• Prof. Gleb Yushin — School of Materials Science and Engineering (advisor)
• Prof. Preet Singh — School of Materials Science and Engineering
• Prof. Faisal Alamgir — School of Materials Science and Engineering
• Prof. Matthew McDowell — School of Materials Science and Engineering
• Prof. Alexander Alexeev — School of Mechanical Engineering