March 30
@
4:00 PM
–
5:00 PM
Dr. Wei Wang
Director of the Energy Storage Materials Initiative
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Host: Professor Dawei Feng (MS&E)
Fundamental Understanding and Engineering of the Highly Concentrated Aqueous Electrolyte
Abstract
Deep decarbonization of the US electric grid will require a TWh-scale of low-cost electrochemical energy storage to accommodate the intermittencies from massive renewable energies. The electrolyte is one of the most critical components in an energy storage system. This presentation describes the development of highly concentrated aqueous electrolytes with their applications in redox flow batteries as the only battery architecture able to decouple power from energy for long-duration energy storage. Fundamental topics of the aqueous electrolyte, such as solvation chemistry, proton regulation, and molecular engineering of the active species, will be discussed. Such understanding is pivotal in developing advanced electrolytes for next-generation energy storage.
Biography
Dr. Wei Wang is the Laboratory Fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Energy Storage Materials Initiative Director. He is a recognized expert in understanding and developing high-performance aqueous electrolytes for electrochemical devices. His research has been published in Science, Nature Energy, Nature Review Materials, etc., and was named Clarivate 1% Highly Cited Researchers in 2018. He is a Battelle Distinguished Inventor with over twenty issued patents and multiple successful commercialization. Dr. Wang joined PNNL in 2009 after receiving a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.