Mechanical Engineering

Batteries: The missing piece for electrification of transportation and aviation

May 04, 2018

1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. ET

100 Porter Hall

Venkat Viswanathan
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Batteries are a key piece towards developing sustainable routes for transportation and avia- tion. In this talk, I will outline the performance requirements of batteries needed for electrifying transportation and aviation. Lithium metal anodes present one approach to address the require- ments for transportation and I will discuss our work on enabling lithium metal anodes and opti- mizing solid state electrolytes to achieve stable electrodeposition. Specifically, I will discuss the potential for solid inorganic electrolytes to suppress the formation of dendrites.

In order to enable electric aviation, lithium-oxygen batteries are an attractive option that can meet the required targets and can leverage the on-board oxygen systems in aircrafts. I will discuss our work on the search for a stable organic liquid electrolyte that can enable lithium-oxygen bat- teries. Specifically, I will discuss our data-driven approach for the search for stable liquid electro- lytes that can withstand the harsh oxidizing operating conditions of lithium-oxgyen batteries. Fi- nally, I will discuss our approach towards next-generation of computation powered autonomous experimentation for optimization of liquid electrolytes.

Bio

Venkat Viswanathan is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and has been in this role since August 2014. He received his PhD at Stanford University in 2013 and subsequently spent a year as a post- doctoral researcher at MIT. At Carnegie Mellon, he leads an interdisciplinary group comprising of ~20 researchers work- ing on technologies that can accelerate the transition to sus- tainable energy. He is a recipient of numerous awards in- cluding the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, National Science Foundation CAREER award and MIT Technology Review In- novators Under 35 Finalist. He has been a technical consult- ant for Quantumscape Inc, since 2015 advising on next- generation battery technologies, and is on the Technical Ad- visory Board of Zunum Aero since 2018, a startup looking to commercialize hybrid-electric and all-electric aircrafts.

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