Dendrites Inhibition in Rechargeable Lithium Metal Batteries

The specific high energy and power capacities of rechargeable lithium metal (Li⁰) batteries are ideally suited to portable devices and are valuable as storage units for intermittent renewable energy sources. Lithium, the lightest and most electropositive metal, would be the optimal anode material for rechargeable batteries if it were not for the fact that such devices fail unexpectedly by short-circuiting via the dendrites that grow across electrodes upon recharging. This phenomenon poses a major safety issue because it triggers a series of adverse events that start with overheating, potentially followed by the thermal decomposition and ultimately the ignition of the organic solvents used in such devices.

In this thesis, we developed experimental platform for monitoring and quantifying the dendrite populations grown in a Li battery prototype upon charging under various conditions. We explored the effects of pulse charging in the kHz range and temperature on dendrite growth, and also on loss capacity into detached “dead” lithium particles.

Simultaneously, we developed a computational framework for understanding the dynamics of dendrite propagation. The coarse-grained Monte Carlo model assisted us in the interpretation of pulsing experiments, whereas MD calculations provided insights into the mechanism of dendrites thermal relaxation. We also developed a computational framework for measuring the dead lithium crystals from the experimental images.

Stability of Electrode-Electrolyte Interfaces during Charging in Lithium Batteries

In this thesis we study the growth of a Li electrode-electrolyte interface in the presence of an elastic prestress. In particular, we focus our interest on Li-air batteries with a solid electrolyte, LIPON, which is a new type of secondary or rechargeable battery. Theoretical studies and experimental evidence show that during the process of charging the battery the replated lithium adds unevenly to the electrode surface. This phenomenon eventually leads to dendrite formation as the battery is charged and discharged numerous times. In order to suppress or alleviate this deleterious effect of dendrite growth, we put forth a study based on a linear stability analysis. Taking into account all the mechanisms of mass transport and interfacial kinetics, we model the evolution of the interface. We find that, in the absence of stress, the stability of a planar interface depends on interfacial diffusion properties and interfacial energy. Specifically, if Herring-Mullins capillarity-driven interfacial diffusion is accounted for, interfaces are unstable against all perturbations of wavenumber larger than a critical value. We find that the effect of an elastic prestress is always to stabilize planar interfacial growth by increasing the critical wavenumber for instability. A parametric study results in quantifying the extent of the prestress stabilization in a manner that can potentially be used in the design of Li-air batteries. Moreover, employing the theory of finite differences we numerically solve the equation that describes the evolution of the surface profile and present visualization results of the surface evolution by time. Lastly, numerical simulations performed in a commercial finite element software validate the theoretical formulation of the interfacial elastic energy change with respect to the planar interface.

Topology optimization of silicon anode structures for lithium-ion battery applications

This thesis presents a topology optimization methodology for the systematic design of optimal multifunctional silicon anode structures in lithium-ion batteries. In order to develop next generation high performance lithium-ion batteries, key design challenges relating to the silicon anode structure must be addressed, namely the lithiation-induced mechanical degradation and the low intrinsic electrical conductivity of silicon. As such, this work considers two design objectives of minimum compliance under design dependent volume expansion, and maximum electrical conduction through the structure, both of which are subject to a constraint on material volume. Density-based topology optimization methods are employed in conjunction with regularization techniques, a continuation scheme, and mathematical programming methods. The objectives are first considered individually, during which the iteration history, mesh independence, and influence of prescribed volume fraction and minimum length scale are investigated. The methodology is subsequently extended to a bi-objective formulation to simultaneously address both the compliance and conduction design criteria. A weighting method is used to derive the Pareto fronts, which demonstrate a clear trade-off between the competing design objectives. Furthermore, a systematic parameter study is undertaken to determine the influence of the prescribed volume fraction and minimum length scale on the optimal combined topologies. The developments presented in this work provide a foundation for the informed design and development of silicon anode structures for high performance lithium-ion batteries.

Understanding Co-translational Protein Targeting and Lithium Dendrite Formation through Free Energy Simulations and Coarse-Grained Models

We describe the application of alchemical free energy methods and coarse-grained models to study two key problems: (i) co-translational protein targeting and insertion to direct membrane proteins to the endoplasmic reticulum for proper localization and folding, (ii) lithium dendrite formation during recharging of lithium metal batteries. We show that conformational changes in the signal recognition particle, a central component of the protein targeting machinery, confer additional specificity during the the recognition of signal sequences. We then develop a three-dimensional coarse-grained model to study the long-timescale dynamics of membrane protein integration at the translocon and a framework for the calculation of binding free energies between the ribosome and translocon. Finally, we develop a coarse-grained model to capture the dynamics of lithium deposition and dissolution at the electrode interface with time-dependent voltages to show that pulse plating and reverse pulse plating methods can mitigate dendrite growth.

Synthetic, structural and mechanistic studies of interactions of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen nucleophiles with bis-pentamethylcyclopentadienyl zirconium and hafnium derivatives

The reactivity of permethylzirconocene and permethylhafnocene complexes with various nucleophiles has been investigated. Permethylzirconocene reacts with sterically hindered ketenes and allenes to afford metallacycle products. Reaction of these cummulenes with permethylzirconocene hydride complexes affords enolate and σ-allyl species, respectively. Reactions which afford enolate products are nonstereospecific, whereas reactions which afford allyl products initially give a cis-σ-allyl complex which rearranges to its trans isomer. The mechanism of these reactions is proposed to occur either by a Lewis Acid-Lewis Base interaction (ketenes) or by formation of a π-olefin intermediate (allenes).

Permethylzirconocene haloacyl complexes react with strong bases such as lithium diisopropylamide or methylene trimethylphosphorane to afford ketene compounds. Depending on the size of the alkyl ketene substituent, the hydrogenation of these compounds affords enolate-hydride products with varying degrees of stereoselectivity. The larger the substituent, the greater is the selectivity for cis hydrogenation products.

The reaction of permethylzirconocene dihydride and permethylhafnocene dihydride with methylene trimethylphosphorane affords methyl-hydride and dimethyl derivatives. Under appropriate conditions, the metallated-ylide complex 1, (η^5-C_5(CH_3)_5)_2 Zr(H)CH_2PMe_2CH_2, is also obtained and has been structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction techniques. Reaction of 1 with CO affords (η^5-C_5(CH_3)_5)_2 Zr(C,O-η^2 -(PMe_3)HC=CO)H which exists in solution as an equilibrium mixture of isomers. In one isomer (2), the η^2-acyl oxygen atom occupies a lateral equatorial coordination position about zirconium, whereas in the other isomer (3), the η-acyl oxygen atom occupies the central equatorial position. The equilibrium kinetics of the 2→3 isomerization have been studied and the structures of both complexes confirmed by X-ray diffraction methods. These studies suggest a mechanism for CO insertion into metal-carbon bonds of the early transition metals.

Permethylhafnocene dihydride and permethylzirconocene hydride complexes react with diazoalkanes to afford η^2-N, N' -hydrazonido species in which the terminal nitrogen atom of the diazoalkane molecule has inserted into a metal-hydride or metal-carbon bond. The structure of one of these compounds, Cp*_2Zr(NMeNCTol_2)OH, has been determined by X-ray diffraction techniques. Under appropriate conditions, the hydrazonido-hydride complexes react with a second equivalent of diazoalkene to afford η' -N-hydrazonido-η^2-N, N' -hydrazonido species.

Fracture of materials undergoing solid-solid phase transformation

A large number of technologically important materials undergo solid-solid phase transformations. Examples range from ferroelectrics (transducers and memory devices), zirconia (Thermal Barrier Coatings) to nickel superalloys and (lithium) iron phosphate (Li-ion batteries). These transformations involve a change in the crystal structure either through diffusion of species or local rearrangement of atoms. This change of crystal structure leads to a macroscopic change of shape or volume or both and results in internal stresses during the transformation. In certain situations this stress field gives rise to cracks (tin, iron phosphate etc.) which continue to propagate as the transformation front traverses the material. In other materials the transformation modifies the stress field around cracks and effects crack growth behavior (zirconia, ferroelectrics). These observations serve as our motivation to study cracks in solids undergoing phase transformations. Understanding these effects will help in improving the mechanical reliability of the devices employing these materials.

In this thesis we present work on two problems concerning the interplay between cracks and phase transformations. First, we consider the directional growth of a set of parallel edge cracks due to a solid-solid transformation. We conclude from our analysis that phase transformations can lead to formation of parallel edge cracks when the transformation strain satisfies certain conditions and the resulting cracks grow all the way till their tips cross over the phase boundary. Moreover the cracks continue to grow as the phase boundary traverses into the interior of the body at a uniform spacing without any instabilities. There exists an optimal value for the spacing between the cracks. We ascertain these conclusion by performing numerical simulations using finite elements.

Second, we model the effect of the semiconducting nature and dopants on cracks in ferroelectric perovskite materials, particularly barium titanate. Traditional approaches to model fracture in these materials have treated them as insulators. In reality, they are wide bandgap semiconductors with oxygen vacancies and trace impurities acting as dopants. We incorporate the space charge arising due the semiconducting effect and dopant ionization in a phase field model for the ferroelectric. We derive the governing equations by invoking the dissipation inequality over a ferroelectric domain containing a crack. This approach also yields the driving force acting on the crack. Our phase field simulations of polarization domain evolution around a crack show the accumulation of electronic charge on the crack surface making it more permeable than was previously believed so, as seen in recent experiments. We also discuss the effect the space charge has on domain formation and the crack driving force.

Techniques for strength measurement at high pressures and strain-rates using transverse waves

The study of the strength of a material is relevant to a variety of applications including automobile collisions, armor penetration and inertial confinement fusion. Although dynamic behavior of materials at high pressures and strain-rates has been studied extensively using plate impact experiments, the results provide measurements in one direction only. Material behavior that is dependent on strength is unaccounted for. The research in this study proposes two novel configurations to mitigate this problem.

The first configuration introduced is the oblique wedge experiment, which is comprised of a driver material, an angled target of interest and a backing material used to measure in-situ velocities. Upon impact, a shock wave is generated in the driver material. As the shock encounters the angled target, it is reflected back into the driver and transmitted into the target. Due to the angle of obliquity of the incident wave, a transverse wave is generated that allows the target to be subjected to shear while being compressed by the initial longitudinal shock such that the material does not slip. Using numerical simulations, this study shows that a variety of oblique wedge configurations can be used to study the shear response of materials and this can be extended to strength measurement as well. Experiments were performed on an oblique wedge setup with a copper impactor, polymethylmethacrylate driver, aluminum 6061-t6 target, and a lithium fluoride window. Particle velocities were measured using laser interferometry and results agree well with the simulations.

The second novel configuration is the y-cut quartz sandwich design, which uses the anisotropic properties of y-cut quartz to generate a shear wave that is transmitted into a thin sample. By using an anvil material to back the thin sample, particle velocities measured at the rear surface of the backing plate can be implemented to calculate the shear stress in the material and subsequently the strength. Numerical simulations were conducted to show that this configuration has the ability to measure the strength for a variety of materials.

Use of pseudoephedrine as a practical chiral auxiliary for asymmetric synthesis

The use of pseudoephedrine as a practical chiral auxiliary for asymmetric synthesis is describe. Both enantiomers of pseudoephedrine are inexpensive commodity chemicals and can be N-acylated in high yields to form tertiary amides. In the presence of lithium chloride, the enolates of the corresponding pseudoephedrine amides undergo highly diastereoselective a1kylations with a wide range of alkyl halides to afford α-substituted products in high yields. These products can then be transformed in a single operation into highly enantiomerically enriched carboxylic acids, alcohols, and aldehydes. Lithium amidotrihydroborate (LAB) is shown to be a powerful reductant for the selective reduction of tertiary amides in general and pseudoephedrine amides in particular to form primary alcohols.

Development and Application of Embedding Methods for the Simulation of Large Chemical Systems

The high computational cost of correlated wavefunction theory (WFT) calculations has motivated the development of numerous methods to partition the description of large chemical systems into smaller subsystem calculations. For example, WFT-in-DFT embedding methods facilitate the partitioning of a system into two subsystems: a subsystem A that is treated using an accurate WFT method, and a subsystem B that is treated using a more efficient Kohn-Sham density functional theory (KS-DFT) method. Representation of the interactions between subsystems is non-trivial, and often requires the use of approximate kinetic energy functionals or computationally challenging optimized effective potential calculations; however, it has recently been shown that these challenges can be eliminated through the use of a projection operator. This dissertation describes the development and application of embedding methods that enable accurate and efficient calculation of the properties of large chemical systems.

Chapter 1 introduces a method for efficiently performing projection-based WFT-in-DFT embedding calculations on large systems. This is accomplished by using a truncated basis set representation of the subsystem A wavefunction. We show that naive truncation of the basis set associated with subsystem A can lead to large numerical artifacts, and present an approach for systematically controlling these artifacts.

Chapter 2 describes the application of the projection-based embedding method to investigate the oxidative stability of lithium-ion batteries. We study the oxidation potentials of mixtures of ethylene carbonate (EC) and dimethyl carbonate (DMC) by using the projection-based embedding method to calculate the vertical ionization energy (IE) of individual molecules at the CCSD(T) level of theory, while explicitly accounting for the solvent using DFT. Interestingly, we reveal that large contributions to the solvation properties of DMC originate from quadrupolar interactions, resulting in a much larger solvent reorganization energy than that predicted using simple dielectric continuum models. Demonstration that the solvation properties of EC and DMC are governed by fundamentally different intermolecular interactions provides insight into key aspects of lithium-ion batteries, with relevance to electrolyte decomposition processes, solid-electrolyte interphase formation, and the local solvation environment of lithium cations.

Bicyclo[3.2.0]hepta-1,4,6-triene: synthesis, thermal rearrangement, and anion formation

In order to determine the properties of the bicycloheptatrienyl anion (Ia) (predicted to be conjugatively stabilized by Hückel Molecular Orbital Theory) the neutral precursor, bicyclo[3. 2. 0] hepta-1, 4, 6-triene (I) was prepared by the following route.

Reaction of I with potassium-t-butoxide, potassium, or lithium dicyclohexylamide gave anion Ia in very low yield. Reprotonation of I was found to occur solely at the 1 or 5 position to give triene II, isolated as to its dimers.

A study of the acidity of I and of other conjugated hydrocarbons by means of ion cyclotron resonance spectroscopy resulted in determination of the following order of relative acidities:

H₂S ˃ C₅H₆ ˃ CH₃NO₂ ˃ 1, 4- C₅H₈ ˃ I ˃ C₂H₅OH ˃ H₂O; cyclo-C₇H₈ ˃ C₂ H₅OH; фCH₃ ˃ CH₃OH

In addition, limits for the proton affinities of the conjugate bases were determined:

350 kcal/mole ˂ PA(C₅ H₅^-) ˂ 360 kcal/mole

362 kcal/mole ˂ PA(C₅H₇^-, Ia, cyclo-C₇H₇^-) ˂ 377 kcal/mole PA(фCH₂^-) ˂ 385 kcal/mole

Gas phase kinetics of the trans-XVIII to I transformation gave the following activation parameters: E_a = 43.0 kcal/mole, log A = 15.53 and ∆S^ǂ (220°) = 9.6 cu. The results were interpreted as indicating initial 1,2 bond cleavage to give the 1,3-diradical which closed to I. Similar studies on cis-XVIII gave results consistent with a surface component to the reaction (E_a = 22.7 kcal/mole; log A = 9.23, ∆S^ǂ (119°) = -18.9 eu).

The low pressure (0.01 to 1 torr) pyrolysis of trans-XVIII gave in addition to I, fulvenallene (LV), ethynylcyclopentadiene (LVI) and heptafulvalene (LVII). The relative ratios of the C₇H₆ isomers were found to be dependent upon temperature and pressure, higher relative pressure and lower temperatures favoring formation of I. The results were found to be consistent with the intermediacy of vibrationally excited I and subsequent reaction to give LV and LVI.