dialogue

studentwise:
Battery Life

by Kate Campbell

The title of Simon Ji ’23’s research poster is daunting: “In-situ investigation of NaFePO4 Coin Cells through Mossbauer Spectroscopy and Galvanostatic Cycling.” But Ji explains it concisely. “In the hunt for more economical and sustainable battery materials, Sodium Iron Phosphate (NaFePO4) has emerged as a promising candidate due to the abundance of the elements that make up its structure,” Ji says. He hopes his research with Assistant Professor of Physics Hillary Smith will help understand this battery material’s behavior under real-life operating conditions, and provide insights to improve its safety, energy density, and longevity.

Simon Ji '23 stands in front of a poster explaining his research.
courtesy of simon ji ’23
“Batteries made from sodium iron phosphate will be much cheaper and easier to manufacture, leading to less expensive electric cars or grid storage devices for solar and wind [energy],” says Simon Ji ’23. “We hope that these batteries will bring us one step closer to a zero carbon future.”
Physics of a Material: Research in Hillary Smith’s lab makes connections between a material’s thermodynamic, magnetic, and structural properties and its utility for a functional application, like in a battery.
What’s the Goal? Ji hopes to better characterize how this material behaves as a battery cathode through the “in-situ” method. “Rather than studying sodium iron phosphate in a raw powdered form,” he says, “the characterization techniques are done on an actual battery made from this material undergoing active cycling.”
Cheap and Easy: The material they are researching (sodium iron phosphate) uses sodium rather than the more conventional lithium. “Sodium is much cheaper and easier to source, being one of the main components of regular table salt,” Ji says.
Lithium vs. Sodium: Lithium is a much more limited resource that is expensive and difficult to obtain. Sodium iron phosphate doesn’t contain any rare metals such as cobalt and nickel that are very damaging to the environment to mine and process.
Charge It: “The galvanostatic cycling method gives precise measurements of the amount of charge the battery is holding and also provides data on cell degradation over many cycles,” says Ji.
Sensitive Tools: Mossbauer Spectroscopy is a niche technique in the field of battery research, requiring a radioactive cobalt gamma ray source, and is only sensitive to certain elements. Despite its lack of versatility, Mossbauer Spectroscopy is incredibly sensitive to small changes in the electronic structure.
Clean Energy: “It’s not just about what approaches can help reduce our carbon footprint,” says Smith, “but whether the materials we use are sustainable, accessible, and affordable.”
Lab Hours: At the beginning of summer 2022, Ji started this project working fulltime for 10 weeks thanks to the Academic Division Summer Opportunity Award. He worked on it over the fall semester for about 3-4 hours weekly and will continue to May.
Future Research: Ji co-founded the Society of Physics Students Big Sib/Little Sib program and recruited two fellow students interested in continuing his research with Professor Smith.
Physics of a Material: Research in Hillary Smith’s lab makes connections between a material’s thermodynamic, magnetic, and structural properties and its utility for a functional application, like in a battery.
What’s the Goal? Ji hopes to better characterize how this material behaves as a battery cathode through the “in-situ” method. “Rather than studying sodium iron phosphate in a raw powdered form,” he says, “the characterization techniques are done on an actual battery made from this material undergoing active cycling.”
Cheap and Easy: The material they are researching (sodium iron phosphate) uses sodium rather than the more conventional lithium. “Sodium is much cheaper and easier to source, being one of the main components of regular table salt,” Ji says.
Lithium vs. Sodium: Lithium is a much more limited resource that is expensive and difficult to obtain. Sodium iron phosphate doesn’t contain any rare metals such as cobalt and nickel that are very damaging to the environment to mine and process.
Charge It: “The galvanostatic cycling method gives precise measurements of the amount of charge the battery is holding and also provides data on cell degradation over many cycles,” says Ji.
Sensitive Tools: Mossbauer Spectroscopy is a niche technique in the field of battery research, requiring a radioactive cobalt gamma ray source, and is only sensitive to certain elements. Despite its lack of versatility, Mossbauer Spectroscopy is incredibly sensitive to small changes in the electronic structure.
Clean Energy: “It’s not just about what approaches can help reduce our carbon footprint,” says Smith, “but whether the materials we use are sustainable, accessible, and affordable.”
Lab Hours: At the beginning of summer 2022, Ji started this project working fulltime for 10 weeks thanks to the Academic Division Summer Opportunity Award. He worked on it over the fall semester for about 3-4 hours weekly and will continue to May.
Future Research: Ji co-founded the Society of Physics Students Big Sib/Little Sib program and recruited two fellow students interested in continuing his research with Professor Smith.
Physics of a Material: Research in Hillary Smith’s lab makes connections between a material’s thermodynamic, magnetic, and structural properties and its utility for a functional application, like in a battery.
What’s the Goal? Ji hopes to better characterize how this material behaves as a battery cathode through the “in-situ” method. “Rather than studying sodium iron phosphate in a raw powdered form,” he says, “the characterization techniques are done on an actual battery made from this material undergoing active cycling.”
Cheap and Easy: The material they are researching (sodium iron phosphate) uses sodium rather than the more conventional lithium. “Sodium is much cheaper and easier to source, being one of the main components of regular table salt,” Ji says.
Lithium vs. Sodium: Lithium is a much more limited resource that is expensive and difficult to obtain. Sodium iron phosphate doesn’t contain any rare metals such as cobalt and nickel that are very damaging to the environment to mine and process.
Charge It: “The galvanostatic cycling method gives precise measurements of the amount of charge the battery is holding and also provides data on cell degradation over many cycles,” says Ji.
Sensitive Tools: Mossbauer Spectroscopy is a niche technique in the field of battery research, requiring a radioactive cobalt gamma ray source, and is only sensitive to certain elements. Despite its lack of versatility, Mossbauer Spectroscopy is incredibly sensitive to small changes in the electronic structure.
Clean Energy: “It’s not just about what approaches can help reduce our carbon footprint,” says Smith, “but whether the materials we use are sustainable, accessible, and affordable.”
Lab Hours: At the beginning of summer 2022, Ji started this project working fulltime for 10 weeks thanks to the Academic Division Summer Opportunity Award. He worked on it over the fall semester for about 3-4 hours weekly and will continue to May.
Future Research: Ji co-founded the Society of Physics Students Big Sib/Little Sib program and recruited two fellow students interested in continuing his research with Professor Smith.
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