Zach Benson, Phillip Johnson, Dillon Lisk, Andrew Tan & Georg Pingen
Collaborators: Kurt Maute - University of Colorado at Boulder
Undergraduate Research - Project started Fall 2013
The goal of this research project is to develop a multiscale flow analysis algorithm for low and moderate Knudsen number flows. One application that we are considering is a coating process to increase the lifetime of lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries function by allowing lithium-ions to travel from the anode to the cathode during the discharge process as illustrated in the figure at right. When the batteries are re-charged, those ions are moved back to the cathode side of the battery passing through the separator. Generally, the more "free" lithium-ions are available, the more charge a battery can carry. However, as a battery undergoes its life-cycle (heating and cooling), cracks appear and attract lithium-ions, using up "free" ions and thereby reducing the charge that can be carried by the battery. It has been shown that by coating the cathode particles with a thin layer using atomic layer deposition (ALD), the lifetime of these batteries can be improved by a factor of more than 5. However, achieving this coating process in a fashion applicable for mass production requires multiscale modeling. Phillip has been working on the necessary theory development for the Boltzmann Transport Equation. Andrew has been studying the use of Finite Element Methods, and Zach and Dillon have been studying basic flow problems using a parallel C++-based flow solver developed by our collaborators.
References: 1. Microstructural Characterization of Li-Ion Batteries Using Correlative Light and Electron Microscopy. www.azom.com.