Invited Presentation: Nanomaterials Design for Next Generation of Energy Storage

Applications of energy storage in transportation and grid scale call for next generation of batteries with high energy, high power, long cycle life, good safety and low cost. The development of nanotechnology in the past two decades has generated great capability of controlling materials at the nanometer scale and has enabled exciting opportunities to design materials with desirable chemical and physical properties. In this talk, I will show how we design rationally nanostructured materials for next generation of batteries. Examples include high capacity silicon anodes and sulfur cathodes, aqueious open framework electrodes and lithium-polysulfide semiflow batteries for grid storage. Novel concepts of self-healing and smart batteries with better safety will also be discussed.