QF Fellow and Associate seminar: Dr. Leo Gordon

Membranes and Megawatts: Revealing Mechanisms with NMR Spectroscopy

This work is motivated by the needs for clean water and energy. Specifically, I combine nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy with electrochemical methods to probe reaction mechanisms in battery materials. We used this combination, with some quantum chemical calculations, to derive a complete ionic and electronic reaction mechanism for aluminum-organic batteries. We further use NMR spectroscopy to understand the local structure of selenium with reduced long-range disorder, and how this structure impacts the electrochemistry of aluminum-selenium batteries. We also employ NMR methods with both spatial and temporal resolution to understand partitioning behaviors of solutes across an octanol-water interface, in addition to measuring the partitioning of salt and water into crosslinked poly(ethylene glycol diacrylate) membranes from their respective solutions. The temporal resolution enables us to model the coupled transport processes. The information derived from these studies informs new materials design in both membrane and battery spaces.