Design and analysis of a flexible solid-state electrolyte

PI:  Christian Linder, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Advanced battery systems with flexibility and high electrochemical performance are essential for powering next generation high-performance stretchable electronics. Solid-state electrolytes are a promising replacement for conventional inflammable and toxic liquid electrolytes and enable the use of Lithium metal as anode, thereby increasing cell voltage and energy density of the battery. However, current solid-state electrolytes cannot undergo large deformation due to its brittle nature. Therefore, it is significant to discover an intrinsically flexible solid-state electrolyte with high electrochemical performance. We will develop machine learning algorithms for the discovery of solid-state electrolyte materials with flexibility and high electrochemical performance and will study the performance and safety of the electrolyte under mechanical deformation using physics-based numerical methods.