Wednesday Seminar Series

Come hear from Caltech faculty and JPL scientists about their exciting research! Lunch will be served to the first 100 guests.

This week features Kimberley See, Assistant Professor of Chemistry.

Beyond the Cell Phone Battery: New Chemistries for Better Batteries

Li-ion batteries are central to our everyday lives. They power our cell phones and laptops allowing us to tweet anytime from anywhere (almost). These batteries are powered by a combination of an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte that work together to store electrons. The mechanism by which electrons are released during discharge and stored again during charge is a called intercalation chemistry. We will discuss the materials that make up your phone battery and enable reversible intercalation reactions. We will also discuss redox reactions that go beyond Li-ion chemistry utilizing more abundant resources with the promise of higher performance. We will discuss the challenges associated with a few next-generation systems including Li-S and Mg-based batteries and the fundamental science involved in developing next-gen systems that are reversible and high capacity.