Research of materials for Na-ion and K-ion batteries

15:00-15:30 Pre-Registration required

Development of solid-state batteries using clean electrolyte/electrode interface

15:30-16:00 Pre-Registration required

【Profile】

Hideyuki Kawasoko received his Ph. D. from Graduate School of Frontier Science, The University of Tokyo in 2015. He was appointed as an research associate at Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University in 2015. From 2016, he has been appointed as a assistant professor at Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University. He specializes in solid-state physics, electrochemistry, and solid-state chemistry.

【Abstract】

Solid-state batteries using solid electrolytes are expected to be the next-generation power source for electric vehicles and electronic devices owing to their high safety and high energy density. One of the challenges for the practical application of the solid-state batteries is to reduce the resistance at the interface between the solid electrolyte and the cathode material (interfacial resistance). Against this background, we have achieved extremely low interfacial resistance by preparing a clean solid-electrolyte/electrode interface in solid-state batteries using Li(Ni0.5Mn1.5)O4 as the cathode material, which has an average voltage of about 5 V, and demonstrated ultra-fast charging and discharging. At the same time, we have also evaluated the intrinsic electrochemical properties of the clean interface, which will be introduced in this presentation.

Development of AZUL Catalysts and Application for Air Batteries

16:00-16:30 Pre-Registration required

【Profile】

Hiroshi Yabu received his Ph. D. in Chemistry from the Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University in 2004. He was appointed as an assistant professor at the Institute of Electronic Science, Hokkaido University in 2004, an assistant professor at the Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University in 2007, and promoted to an associate professor at the Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University in 2010. From 2016, he has been appointed as a junior principal investigator and associate professor of Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University. In July 2019, he co-founded the Tohoku University venture, AZUL Energy, Inc. based on the findings of AZUL catalysts discovered in his laboratory during his pigment research. He is a board member and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). He specializes in polymer chemistry and materials science.

【Abstract】

The oxygen reduction reaction is a bottleneck in the cathode of fuel cells and air batteries. Platinum-carbon (Pt/C) has been used as a catalyst, however, due to cost, resource constraints, and durability issues, development of alternative materials has been demanded. We have succeeded in developing an inexpensive, highly active, and durable AZUL catalyst by molecularly adsorbing metal azaphthalocyanine derivatives onto carbon. We have also established a Tohoku University venture company, AZUL Energy, Inc., to commercialize those catalysts. In this presentation, we will introduce the background of the discovery of AZUL catalyst, its characteristics, and the development toward commercialization.

Lithium-air batteries with practically high energy density

16:30-17:00 Pre-Registration required

【Profile】

Shoichi Matsuda is a Senior Researcher at the National Institute for Materials Science, Japan. He studied chemistry in The University of Tokyo and received PhD in 2015. After that, he joined NIMS as ICYS researcher and then get tenured position in 2017. He has been participated in the Specially Promoted Research for Innovative Next Generation Batteries project since 2016. His current research interests are lithium-metal based rechargeable batteries and data-driven automated experiments.

【Abstract】

Although the market share for Li-ion batteries (LiBs) has continuously expanded, the limited theoretical energy density of conventional LiBs will no longer meet the advanced energy storage requirements. Lithium-air batteries (LABs) are potential candidates for next-generation rechargeable batteries because of their extremely high theoretical energy density. However, the reported values for the actual energy density of LABs are much lower than those for LiBs, mainly due to the excess amount of electrolyte in the cell. In the present talk, the practical energy density was estimated for the representative LABs reported in academia, and the critical factors for improving the energy density of LAB were summarized. The criteria for evaluating LABs in laboratory-based experiments were also proposed for accurately predicting the performance of practical cells in industry.