The mission of the Fluid Interface Reactions, Structures and Transport (FIRST) Center is to achieve fundamental understanding and validated, predictive models of the atomistic origins of electrolyte and coupled electron transport at multiple length and time scales that will enable transformative advances in electrical energy storage and related fluid-solid interfacial systems.
This proposed project will address the following critical scientific knowledge gaps: (1) what ultimately controls the transport properties of nanoconfined electrolytes?; (2) is correlated ion transport (e.g., Grotthus mechanism) dependent on pore confinement and concentration?; (3) is the transport of electrolyte ions coupled with electron transport and surface charge evolution in nanostructured electrodes?; and (4) how are the rates and mechanisms of surface redox processes affected by nanoconfinement and interfacial counterion transport?
This Energy Frontier Research Center is led by Sheng Dai at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Principal Investigator: Marek Pruski
Staff Scientists: Takeshi Kobayashi
Post Docs: Jinlei Cui