报告摘要：

In response to fossil-fuel shortages and ecological deterioration, we have been diligently seeking clean and renewable energy sources, which has placed electrical energy storage at the forefront of technological innovation.  Such endeavors will not only provide critical technologies for grid energy storage, in particular, grid-connected intermittent energy sources such as photovoltaics and wind turbines, but are also essential to the development of electric vehicles (EVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) and other applications.  Current electrical energy storage is primarily based on batteries and supercapacitors.  From the first battery invented in 1800 to the most recent lithium-ion batteries, battery performance has been continuously improving.  Their low energy and power density, however, still limit their large-scale application in EVs and PHEVs.  Supercapacitors, on the other hand, possess significantly higher power density but lower energy density than batteries.  Developing novel materials that can provide high energy and power densities is essential but highly challenging. 

 

Herein, we report the design and synthesis of novel nanocomposites for advanced energy storage applications, focusing on nanocomposites.  To achieve high-performance electrodes for energy storage, the essential prerequisites are making electrodes with faster ion transport, excellent electron conductivity, and robust electrode structure.  Based on such design criteria, various nanocomposite electrodes with high performance can be readily designed and synthesized.  For example, pseudocapacitive anode materials composed of interpenetrating networks of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and V2O5 nanowires were successful made with outstanding energy storage performance.   The CNTs and nanowires were intimately intertwined into a hierarchically porous structure, enabling effective electrolyte access to the electrochemically active materials without limiting charge transport.   This approach has been extended to design various materials for energy storage, providing a general design platform towards high-performance electrodes for energy storage applications.

 

主讲人简介：

Yufeng Lu教授是新墨西哥大学的博士，曾在桑迪亚国家实验室工作，在杜兰大学担任教授。2006年至今在加州大学洛杉矶分校（UCLA）担任化学工程系教授。获得美国政府颁发的青年科学家与工程师总统奖、美国能源部颁发的青年职业科学家和工程师奖、美国化学学会颁发的联合利华奖等。