Nanostructures for Electrical Energy Storage (NEES) is a five-year Energy Frontier Research Center investigating nanoscale behavior in lithium-ion battery materials. Funded by the US Department of Energy, the Center studies the properties of composite nanostructures containing an oxide or silicon as a charge storage material and low dimensional forms of carbon as an electronic conductor or mechanical support. NEES is particularly interested in nanostructures that are precise and regularly ordered. These structures provide a unique test bed for uncovering to the science of electrochemistry at the nanoscale.

 

The two Science Thrusts of the Center investigate nanotubes, nanowires, and layers of MnO2, silicon, and carbon electrode materials as well as nanoporous membranes in an electrolyte. They examine the mechanical behavior, electrochemical properties, and interfacial phenomena that arise in heterogeneous material combinations. The two Enabling Thrusts of the Center develop model systems and characterization instruments for the nanoscale. Ultra high vacuum scanning probe microscopy and first principles modeling provide for the study of pristine systems, and in situ transmission electron microscopy and microelectromechanical systems are allowing members of NEES to observe electrochemical processes as they unfold.

 

NEES is a collaboration of 19 senior investigators, ~35 postdoctoral associates and graduate research assistants, and many staff members at six institutions. The Center integrates their perspectives to pursue a comprehensive examination of electrical energy storage using precision, multifunctional nanostructures. Members include Philip Collins (University of California-Irvine), Michael Fuhrer (University of Maryland), Sang Bok Lee (UMD), Charles Martin (University of Florida), Reginald Penner (UCI), Zuzanna Siwy (UCI), John Cumings (UMD), S. Thomas Picraux (Los Alamos National Laboratory & Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies), Mark Reed (Yale University), Chunsheng Wang (UMD), YuHuang Wang (UMD), Kevin Leung (Sandia National Laboratories), Janice Reutt-Robey (UMD), Kevin Zavadil (SNL), Reza Ghodssi (UMD), Jianyu Huang (SNL, CINT), Robert Hwang (SNL), Gary W. Rubloff (UMD), John Sullivan (SNL, CINT), and Ashley Predith (UMD).