Hybrid materials for energy storage

To tackle climate change, we need cleaner, more efficient ways to store and use energy. Many of the proposed “next generation” energy devices (things like fuel cells or advanced battery technologies) require conductive solid components known as Solid State Electrolytes or SSEs. Unfortunately, all the current options for SSE materials have drawbacks. Inorganic materials tend to be highly conductive, but difficult to work with. Organic materials (usually polymers) tend to be easy to process, but are relatively poor conductors.

In this project, we will make “hybrid” materials (i.e. metal-organic frameworks and other materials with both organic and inorganic components) with the intent to combine the best of organic and inorganic materials. We will also combine these materials with known redox-active compounds to influence the electronic properties of our materials. 

Our initial results showed that an important hybrid MOF material might actually be a metastable material that, over time, decomposes into different materials. The next step in our project is to develop a stability phase diagram for this material to determine what conditions the material is stable under.

What will you do? The project will involve working on a team to make and characterize some new variants of our hybrid material, and to investigate phase changes using techniques like Dynamic Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Powder X-Ray Diffraction (PXRD), and potentially Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).

If you’re interested in the project, feel free to come and talk to me about it (Jacobs 1211).

If you want to apply, please write a short introduction about yourself, and include (a) why you're interested in the project, and (b) what you're hoping to learn.