The U.S. Department of Energy has selected Whitney Loo, the Conway Assistant Professor in chemical and biological engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for a prestigious 2024 Early Career Research Program award.
Loo’s 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.
Batteries are made of two electrical terminals—one called a cathode and a second called an anode—and an ion-rich electrolyte in between. The chemical reactions among these elements determine how stable, efficient and durable a battery is.
To improve a battery, researchers must find better anode and cathode materials and more innovative electrolytes. That’s where Loo’s research comes in. An expert in developing new polymers—materials with long chains of molecules like plastics, rubber and proteins—she is designing materials called “single-ion conducting polymer-blend electrolytes.” These new materials combine one polymer that contains ions and one that can transport ions.
Read the full story here: https://engineering.wisc.edu/news/with-doe-early-career-award-whitney-loo-is-engineering-the-heart-of-next-gen-batteries/