{"id":101269,"date":"2024-10-01T13:39:46","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T18:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.wisc.edu\/?post_type=news&p=101269"},"modified":"2024-10-01T13:39:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T18:39:52","slug":"with-doe-early-career-award-whitney-loo-is-engineering-the-heart-of-next-gen-batteries","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/engineering.wisc.edu\/news\/with-doe-early-career-award-whitney-loo-is-engineering-the-heart-of-next-gen-batteries\/","title":{"rendered":"With DOE early career award, Whitney Loo is engineering the heart of next-gen batteries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The U.S. Department of Energy has selected Whitney Loo<\/a>, the Conway Assistant Professor in chemical and biological engineering<\/a> at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for a prestigious 2024 Early Career Research Program award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loo\u2019s project is aimed at engineering a new type of electrolyte for use in batteries, which could lead to safer, cheaper and more energy-dense battery chemistries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Batteries are made of two electrical terminals\u2014one called a cathode and a second called an anode\u2014and an ion-rich electrolyte in between. The chemical reactions among these elements determine how stable, efficient and durable a battery is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To improve a battery, researchers must find better anode and cathode materials and more innovative electrolytes. That\u2019s where Loo\u2019s research comes in. An expert in developing new polymers\u2014materials with long chains of molecules like plastics, rubber and proteins\u2014she is designing materials called \u201csingle-ion conducting polymer-blend electrolytes.\u201d These new materials combine one polymer that contains ions and one that can transport ions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re blending two different polymer-containing components to try to maximize two important properties that are typically not found in a single material,\u201d says Loo. \u201cPractically, that correlates to things like fast-charging and high-current-density applications.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, better batteries. Loo\u2019s slightly goopy new electrolyte could enable next generation lithium-metal batteries by creating a stable interface with lithium metal. That stability reduces the threat of battery fires or explosions. It also cuts down on a phenomenon called dendrite growth, which can lower battery performance or lead to failures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of her research, Loo also plans to swap lithium for different ions, like potassium, magnesium and sodium, to see how they change the electrolyte\u2019s structure and ion transport capabilities. This is an important step in moving beyond lithium to safer, cheaper, more sustainable rechargeable batteries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another important component of the project is using advanced neutron scattering techniques to study the new polymers. By adding certain isotopes to the polymers, Loo and her team can characterize the materials on the nanoscale using U.S. Department of Energy neutron sources at Oak Ridge National Laboratory<\/a> in Tennessee. This detailed data will then inform further design and analysis of the single-ion conducting polymer-blend electrolytes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loo will chair the DOE Advanced Light Source<\/a> user executive committee at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2025. \u201cIt feels really nice to be recognized for the scientific work that we’re doing by a community I have served throughout my career,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loo is one of 91 awardees from 50 universities and 12 national laboratories to receive a DOE Early Career Research Program<\/a> award this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo by Joel Hallberg<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":101272,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_mbp_gutenberg_autopost":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"department":[2386],"focus_area":[2382],"news_category":[2486,37,38],"news_tag":[],"class_list":["post-101269","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","department-chemical-biological-engineering","focus_area-energy-sustainability-and-environment","news_category-awards","news_category-faculty","news_category-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/101269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/101269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101275,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/101269\/revisions\/101275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=101269"},{"taxonomy":"focus_area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/focus_area?post=101269"},{"taxonomy":"news_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_category?post=101269"},{"taxonomy":"news_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.wisc.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_tag?post=101269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}