CAS: Understanding the Electrochemistry of Carboxylate Compound-Based Organic Anodes in Rechargeable Sodium and Potassium Batteries

In this project, funded by the Chemical Structure, Dynamics & Mechanisms B Program of the Chemistry Division, Professors Chao Luo and Andre Clayborne of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at George Mason University are investigating the electrochemistry of carboxylate compounds in rechargeable sodium batteries and rechargeable potassium batteries. They are seeking a fundamental understanding of the correlation between chemical structures and electrochemical behaviors. Rechargeable sodium batteries and rechargeable potassium batteries are attractive alternatives to the well-known lithium ion battery, which are widely used in electric cars, electronic, and energy storage. Research activities will involve graduate, undergraduate, high school, and middle school students. Outreach activities include the development of sustainable battery workshops for high school and middle school students, and the training of high school students with basic hands-on skills for battery research to enhance their interests in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Current inorganic anodes limit the development of rechargeable sodium batteries and rechargeable potassium batteries, because of low capacity, poor cycle life, and sluggish reaction kinetics. Carboxylate compounds, with their advantages of lightweight and low cost, stand out as promising anode materials for rechargeable sodium batteries and rechargeable potassium batteries. However, they can suffer from low Coulombic efficiency and slow reaction kinetics. Professors Chao Luo and Andre Clayborne plan to overcome these limitations by studying functional groups, heteroatoms, conjugation structure, structural isomerism, and interfacial chemistry in conjunction with computation chemistry and data analytics. Innovative structure design and facile fabrication approaches will be developed to synthesize carboxylate-based organic anodes. The combination of extensive electrochemical and material characterizations, in situ/ex situ electrode measurements, and computational chemistry could lead to the fundamental understanding of the battery chemistry of new carboxylate anodes. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.