Maureen Tang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, has received the
National Science Foundation CAREER Award for her research on failure mechanisms in advanced lithium-ion
batteries. The five-year grant totaling $500,002 is entitled “Predicting battery lifetime from direct measurements
of inter-electrode communication.” With this grant, Prof. Tang will work towards improving the lifetime of
advanced batteries for vehicle transport and renewable electricity grid storage applications.
At present, the main cause of battery failure is undesirable chemical side reactions that are very complicated and
difficult to understand. Because these reactions are so difficult to measure directly, battery scientists are less able
to design materials and devices that can withstand side reactions for longer times. As a result, to date, engineers
mainly have to rely on empirical failure tests that increase the time and cost of developing new technology. This
CAREER award applies new methods to directly measure side reaction rates that impact battery lifetime and
performance. Information about reaction rates will then be used to build system models that predict battery
lifetime. The results will allow researchers to design materials that last longer and to predict device failure much
more rapidly than traditional methods.
More information about Prof. Tang's research can be found on her group website,
http://www.chemeng.drexel.edu/tanglab/.