Latest Events

Speaker: Professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, Professor of Natural Sciences and Director of the Center for Macromolecular Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

Macromolecular Engineering (ME) is a process comprising the rational design of (co)polymers with specific architecture and functionality, followed by precise and efficient polymer synthesis and processing to prepare advanced materials with target properties. Many advanced nanostructured functional materials were recently designed and prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization employing diverse vinyl monomers. Various gradient, block, periodic copolymers, stars, molecular brushes, hybrid materials, and bioconjugates were prepared with high precision. Special emphasis will be on nanostructured multifunctional hybrid materials for applications related to biology, environment, and energy. 

Profile

We are delighted to host Professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski for the 2024 Melville Lectureship. Professor Kris Matyjaszewski is the J.C. Warner University Professor of Natural Sciences and director of the Center for Macromolecular Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. In 1994, he discovered Cu-mediated atom transfer radical polymerization, which was commercialized in 2004 in US, Japan and Europe. He has synthesized many advanced materials for biomedical, environmental, and energy-related applications and has co-authored >1,300 publications, (>192,000 citations, h-index 209) and has 69 US patents. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Sciences, European, Australian, Polish, Hungarian, and Georgian Academies of Sciences. He received the 2023 NAS Award in Chemical Sciences, 2021 Grand Prix de la Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie, France, 2017 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry, 2015 Dreyfus Prize in Chemical Sciences, 2011 Wolf Prize in Chemistry, 2009 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, and thirteen doctorates honoris causa.
 
Professor Matyjaszewski will be visiting our department for the week of 13 May and delivering two lectures.

Speaker: Dr Liliia Bilous Visiting Fellow, Global Sustainability Institute, Anglia Ruskin University

Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy, and Natural Resource Governance (CEENRG) in the Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, invites you to attend its regular seminar series. In 2024 Easter term, our seminars continue in a hybrid format in the DAB— David Attenborough Building every Thursday at 3 pm* (UK time). To join online, please register to receive the Zoom link on the day of the seminar. Everyone is welcome!

Register: CEENRG Seminar Series: 2024 Easter Term Registration Form (office.com)

Our next  Goldsmiths' Seminar on 16 May 2024 will be delivered by Professor Patrick Grant FREng from the University of Oxford on 'Novel manufacturing approaches to improving Li and Na ion batteries'. Please find more details below. See you in person (there will be cake) or on Zoom.

Zoom Meeting ID: 968 3671 4124

https://zoom.us/j/96836714124

Abstract

Since the invention of the Li ion battery more than 30 years ago, there have been steady improvements in performance such as energy and power density. However the most dramatic change has been the reduction in cost per unit energy stored due to manufacturing innovations, which have reduced costs by more than an order of magnitude. While costs continue to reduce, albeit more slowly, battery performance is beginning to stagnate. However, this plateau of performance is disappointingly well-below the intrinsic energy storage performance of the active cathode and anode materials that comprise the Li ion battery. The root of the performance plateau is the ubiquitous method of creating the electrodes, which although highly productive, constrains the range structures and performance that can be achieved. This talk explores novel ways of producing electrodes used in Li ion and Na ion that have structures that allow the intrinsic energy storage capabilities of materials to be realised more fully. For example, we have developed manufacturing techniques that provide extra control on how a polymeric binder distributes during the drying of a slurry cast Li ion battery electrode, how to eliminate organic solvents used in electrode processing, and how to mix optimally different active materials in a single electrode. By improving microstructural control, battery performance is enhanced, and the design space for battery electrode architectures and performance is widened. Because design options are increased, trial and error electrode optimisation by experiment typical of the battery industry becomes impossible. Therefore, the use of modelling and simulation becomes essential, both to understand the electrochemical behaviour of our smart hetero-electrodes and to guide the microstructural design of electrodes for a particular balance of desired properties.

Biography

Patrick Grant is the Vesuvius Professor of Materials and Pro Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Oxford. His research takes place at the interface between advanced materials and manufacturing. Particular applications include electrodes for energy storage, advanced metallics for efficient power generation, and multi-material additive manufacturing. He leads one of the UK Faraday Institution’s major research programmes on smart Li ion electrode manufacture and is the manufacturing lead for the Faraday Institution’s research programme on solid-state batteries. He was head of the Department of Materials (2015-18) and has been Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research since 2018. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2010, was Chair of Rolls-Royce’s Scientific Advisory Committee (2019-22) and is a director of Oxford University Innovation Ltd, Oxford University's technology transfer company.

Speaker: Professor Patrick Grant FREng, Department of Materials, Oxford University, UK

Since the invention of the Li ion battery more than 30 years ago, there have been steady improvements in performance such as energy and power density. However the most dramatic change has been the reduction in cost per unit energy stored due to manufacturing innovations, which have reduced costs by more than an order of magnitude. While costs continue to reduce, albeit more slowly, battery performance is beginning to stagnate. However, this plateau of performance is disappointingly well-below the intrinsic energy storage performance of the active cathode and anode materials that comprise the Li ion battery. The root of the performance plateau is the ubiquitous method of creating the electrodes, which although highly productive, constrains the range structures and performance that can be achieved. This talk explores novel ways of producing electrodes used in Li ion and Na ion that have structures that allow the intrinsic energy storage capabilities of materials to be realised more fully. For example, we have developed manufacturing techniques that provide extra control on how a polymeric binder distributes during the drying of a slurry cast Li ion battery electrode, how to eliminate organic solvents used in electrode processing, and how to mix optimally different active materials in a single electrode. By improving microstructural control, battery performance is enhanced, and the design space for battery electrode architectures and performance is widened. Because design options are increased, trial and error electrode optimisation by experiment typical of the battery industry becomes impossible. Therefore, the use of modelling and simulation becomes essential, both to understand the electrochemical behaviour of our smart hetero-electrodes and to guide the microstructural design of electrodes for a particular balance of desired properties.

Speaker profile:

Patrick Grant is the Vesuvius Professor of Materials and Pro Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Oxford. His research takes place at the interface between advanced materials and manufacturing. Particular applications include electrodes for energy storage, advanced metallics for efficient power generation, and multi-material additive manufacturing. He leads one of the UK Faraday Institution’s major research programmes on smart Li ion electrode manufacture and is the manufacturing lead for the Faraday Institution’s research programme on solid-state batteries. He was head of the Department of Materials (2015-18) and has been Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research since 2018. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2010, was Chair of Rolls-Royce’s Scientific Advisory Committee (2019-22) and is a director of Oxford University Innovation Ltd, Oxford University’s technology transfer company.

Online link https://zoom.us/j/96836714124.

IET are hosting Fiona Coomer, Research & Development Manager at Echion, who will explain the research and development process, and the challenges of bringing a new battery material to market. Harry Geary, Test & Validation Manager, will then pick up the story of how Echion works with customers to develop and test battery cells for applications in the marketplace. This event will take place on Thursday 16th May in Constance Tipper Lecture Theatre (LT0) in the Engineering Department at 6:30 till 8pm (tea/coffee/biscuits from 6pm)

Lithium-ion batteries are widely accepted as the energy-storage norm and are expected to become the primary energy source as the world seeks to achieve decarbonisation targets in many areas, especially transport. Current Li-ion technology is not a one size fits all solution and many applications, such as rail, large haul mining trucks, construction vehicles and maritime have specific requirements in relation to charging times, life cycle, safety and increasingly, sustainability. Operators need these issues to be resolved to achieve lower total cost of ownership and maximum return on their capex investments. Echion is offering a potential solution. XNO®, its niobium-based anode material, which enables lithium-ion batteries to fast charge safely in less than 10 minutes, with high energy density and a cycle life of more than 10,000 cycles.

Register: https://www.meetup.com/cambridge-iet-engineering-and-technology-meetup/events/297114475/