{"id":2,"date":"2012-05-25T05:08:48","date_gmt":"2012-05-25T10:08:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/pintlab\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2018-09-06T17:03:24","modified_gmt":"2018-09-06T22:03:24","slug":"sample-page","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/pintlab\/sample-page\/","title":{"rendered":"Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pint Lab research\u00a0effort combines a multidisciplinary team<\/span> of the most talented and vision-driven researchers in the world to solve\u00a0problems that require innovative solutions<\/span>.\u00a0 Our goal is not to improve existing systems, but to create new systems<\/span> forged through guiding rationale, relentless hard work, and\u00a0creative scientific insight<\/span>.\u00a0 Our efforts span across numerous fields, building upon the expertise of Prof. Pint and the team in areas of\u00a0energy systems, carbon nanotechnology, and manufacturing.<\/strong>\u00a0 Below is a discussion of research areas that our team has led forward, as well as a discussion of ongoing broad interests of the Pint lab.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Area 1: Energy Storage Materials and Systems<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"windmills\"<\/strong>Our\u00a0team has led key research thrusts in areas of lithium-sulfur batteries, sodium-sulfur batteries,\u00a0sodium ion batteries, and potassium-ion batteries.\u00a0 Our work has demonstrated the first “anode-free” sodium battery with low-cost processing and the highest\u00a0> 400 Wh\/kg energy density\u00a0ever reported for sodium batteries\u00a0[1], a scalable manufacturing method for Li-S battery cathodes yielding record-level areal capacity and sulfur utilization – giving promise for energy density surpassing 500 Wh\/kg [2-3], a sodium sulfur battery derived from bulk sugar, sulfur, and sodium that overcomes undesirable\u00a0stability issues of other sodium-sulfur technologies while retaining cost benefits of the sodium-beta battery\u00a0[4], and a sequence of studies representing the first of only a handful of contributions on potassium ion battery anodes [5-6].<\/p>\n

Ongoing Interests: <\/strong>We remain interested in pushing the energy density, durability, and cost to levels that can open new markets and overcome big limitations for existing battery systems.\u00a0 This requires\u00a0understanding and exploitation of foundational mechanisms for these systems, and outside-the-box engineering design for devices.\u00a0 We are also developing a series of non-flammable electrolytes and developing top-down “smart” diagnostic tools that can be tailored to emerging battery systems.<\/p>\n

[1] A.P. Cohn, N. Muralidharan, R. Carter, K. Share, and C.L. Pint, \u201cAn anode-free sodium battery through in-situ plating of sodium metal,\u201d Nano Letters, 17, 1296-1301 (2017)<\/a>.
\n[2] M. Li, R. Carter, A. Douglas, L. Oakes, C.L. Pint, \u201cSulfur vapor-infiltrated 3-D carbon nanotube foam for binder-free high areal\u00a0capacity composite lithium sulfur battery cathodes,\u201d ACS Nano 11, 4877-4884 (2017).\u00a0<\/a>
\n[3] R. Carter, L. Oakes, N. Muralidharan, and C.L. Pint, \u201cIsothermal sulfur condensation into carbon scaffolds: Improved loading, performance, and scalability for lithium sulfur battery cathodes,\u201d\u00a0Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 121, 7718-7727 (2017).<\/a>
\n[4] R. Carter, L. Oakes, A. Douglas, N. Muralidharan, A.P. Cohn, and C.L. Pint, \u201cA sugar derived room temperature sodium sulfur battery with long term cycling stability,\u201d Nano Letters,\u00a017, 1863-1869\u00a0(2017)<\/a>
\n[5] K. Share, A.P. Cohn, R. Carter, B. Rodgers, and C.L. Pint, \u201cRole of nitrogen doped graphene for improved high capacity potassium ion battery anodes,\u201d ACS Nano 10, 9738-9744, (2016).<\/a>
\n[6] K. Share, A.P. Cohn, R. Carter, and C.L. Pint, \u201cMechanism of Electrochemical Potassium Ion Intercalation Staging in Few Layered Graphene from In-Situ<\/em> Raman Spectroscopy, Nanoscale 8, 16435-16439 (2016).<\/a><\/h6>\n

Area 2: Sustainable Conversion of CO2 into Carbon Nanomaterials<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"CO2\"Our team has pioneered the ability to produce valuable multi-walled carbon nanotubes from atmospheric carbon dioxide in a process that generates only O2 as a\u00a0 process byproduct.\u00a0\u00a0 Early (collaborative) work demonstrated the first carbon nanotubes with excessively large diameters that remain of limited technological interest [1]. By exploiting the science of CNT growth from Prof. Pint’s over 10 years of experience in this area[2], further work has demonstrated > 99% yield of multi-walled CNTs with diameters near or below 30 nm [3]. This places our materials as being competitive in properties\u00a0with CNTs grown using\u00a0more expensive\u00a0(and emissions-producing) processes and marketed\u00a0at costs well exceeding $100\/kg while incurring operating costs in laboratory experiments<\/em> that remain under 50% of this amount [4].\u00a0\u00a0Compared to research efforts aiming to study and\u00a0use energy-intensive and low efficiency processes to produce fuels\u00a0such as methanol or ethanol that will further be burned to produce carbon emissions, or efforts requiring energy consumption to absorb carbon dioxide into rock or stone with little to no value, our work stands out as the only approach that provides positive economic value when considering the material we’re producing from CO2 versus the total energy input required.\u00a0\u00a0Our focus toward producing\u00a0high valued materials using\u00a0a minimum energy footprint distinguishes our work from others and is the basis of our commercial efforts through\u00a0our spin-off company SkyNano LLC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ongoing Interests:<\/strong> We are working to overcome the scientific limitations of synthesizing single-walled CNTs and single-layered graphene, the most atomically precise and valuable materials in the world, from atmospheric carbon dioxide.\u00a0 We are also exploring how electrochemistry tools can convert other greenhouse gases into carbon nanotubes, and how electrochemistry can be the golden bullet for a long-standing challenge of metallic carbon nanotube cloning, as originally envisioned by the late Prof. Richard Smalley.<\/p>\n

[1] S. Licht, A. Douglas, J. Ren, R. Carter, M. Lefler, and C.L. Pint, \u201cCarbon nanotubes produced from ambient carbon dioxide for environmentally sustainable lithium-ion and sodium-ion battery anodes,\u201d \u00a0ACS Central Science 2, 162-168 (2016)<\/a>.
\n[2] A. Douglas and C.L. Pint, \u201cReview \u2013 Electrochemical growth of carbon nanotubes and graphene from\u00a0ambient carbon dioxide:\u00a0Synergy with conventional gas-phase growth mechanisms,\u201d ECS\u00a0Journal of Solid State Science and Technology, 6, M3084-M3089 (2017).<\/a>
\n[3] A. Douglas, R. Carter, N. Muralidharan, L. Oakes, and C.L. Pint, \u201cIron catalyzed growth of crystalline multi-walled carbon nanotubes from ambient carbon dioxide mediated by molten carbonates,\u201d Carbon,\u00a0116, 572-578\u00a0(2017).<\/a>
\n[4] A. Douglas, N. Muralidharan, R. Carter, and C.L. Pint, \u201cSustainable Capture and Conversion of Carbon Dioxide into Valuable Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes using Metal Scrap Materials,\u201d ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, accepted (2017).<\/a><\/h6>\n

Area 3: Mechano-Chemistry of Energy Materials<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"strain_eng\"<\/p>\n

Prof. Pint’s team has led the first works aiming to understand how mechanical stresses can impact the electrochemistry of battery materials.[1-3]\u00a0\u00a0 As semiconductor manufacturing has utilized strain engineering as a tool for the last two decades to maintain synergy with Moore’s law, battery researchers have focused efforts on studying strain only as an outcome or result\u00a0of an electrochemical process.\u00a0 Our efforts break this mold and demonstrate\u00a0how strains or stresses can be inputs to control electrochemistry in batteries, with far-reaching implications to battery manufacturing where strain often remains an\u00a0uncontrolled parameter in battery material packaging and design.\u00a0 This\u00a0has been the foundation for ongoing efforts in the development of strain energy harvesters that exploit the fundamental\u00a0mechano-chemical coupling of battery materials for low-frequency human motion harvesting systems [4].<\/p>\n

Ongoing Interests: <\/strong>We are working to broadly understand the impact of mechano-electrochemistry in technologically important areas such as corrosion,\u00a0dealloying, and material processing.\u00a0 We are also working toward bringing together fabric design, biomechanics, and mechanochemistry platforms for smart and wearable fabrics that can track or harvest energy from motions.<\/p>\n

[1] L. Oakes, R. Carter, T. Hanken, A.P. Cohn, K. Share, B. Schmidt, and C.L. Pint, \u201cInterface strain in vertically stacked two-dimensional heterostructured carbon-MoS2 nanosheets controls electrochemical reactivity,\u201d \u00a0Nature Communications 7, 11796 (2016).<\/a>
\n[2] N. Muralidharan, R. Carter, L. Oakes, A.P. Cohn, and C.L. Pint, \u201cStrain engineering to modify the electrochemistry of energy storage electrodes,\u201d Scientific Reports 6, 27542 (2016).<\/a>
\n[3] N. Muralidharan, C. Brock, A.P. Cohn, D. Schauben, R.E. Carter, L. Oakes, D.G. Walker, and C.L. Pint, \u201cTunable MechanoChemistry of Lithium Battery\u00a0Electrodes,\u201d ACS Nano 11, 6243-6251\u00a0(2017).<\/a>
\n[4] N. Muralidharan, M. Li, R. Carter, N. Galioto, and C.L. Pint, \u201cUltralow Frequency Electrochemical \u2013 Mechanical Strain Energy Harvester using 2D Black Phosphorus Nanosheets,\u201d ACS Energy Letters 2, 1797-1803\u00a0(2017).<\/a><\/h6>\n

Area 4: Multifunctional Energy Systems<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"integrated_battery\"<\/p>\n

The Pint lab has been focused on a vision that Prof. Pint has held for many years, which is that the next impactful wave of energy technology will be integrated into technological systems instead of externally situated.\u00a0 This has led the Pint team toward advancements in multifunctional and integrated energy storage and harvesting systems [1-2].\u00a0 Pint’s team has been the first to focus on the enabling mechanisms of interfaces in multifunctional energy storage composites, building critical\u00a0assessment routes\u00a0for the simultaneous mechanical – electrochemical testing necessary for assessment of multifunctional energy storage[1].\u00a0 Pint’s team has also led efforts on practical integration of energy harvesting and energy storage technologies building around silicon-based systems[3-4], and demonstrated silicon-based water desalination routes that can be seamlessly integrated with\u00a0the silicon-based systems that can power them [5].\u00a0 This overall effort in the Pint lab focuses on the integration of energy technology into structural materials, wearable materials, and materials with the capability of simultaneous energy storage and harvesting capability.<\/p>\n

Ongoing Interests: <\/strong>We are aggressively working to develop reinforced structural composites building from mechanistic design of interfaces to allow on-board energy storage without significantly compromised composite mechanical performance.\u00a0 This overcomes current routes described in the literature\u00a0that simply\u00a0“layer” materials together into composites without consideration of critical interfaces known to limit traditional reinforced composites.\u00a0 We are also working both in our laboratory and collaboratively on the textile based integration of energy harvesting, energy storage, and wireless energy\u00a0transfer\u00a0technologies for what we envision as core technology in an era where energy and big data intersect.<\/p>\n

[1] A.S. Westover, J.W. Tian, S. Bernath, L. Oakes, R. Edwards, F.N. Shabab, S. Chatterjee, A. Anilkumar, and C.L. Pint, \u201cA multifunctional load-bearing solid-state supercapacitor,\u201d Nano Letters, 14, 3197-3202 (2014).<\/a>
\n[2] A.S. Westover, B. Baer, B.H. Bello, H. Sun, L. Oakes, L. Bellan, and C.L. Pint, \u201cMultifunctional high strength and high energy epoxy composite structural supercapacitors with wet-dry operational stability,\u201d Journal of Materials Chemistry A \u00a03, 20097-20102 (2015).<\/a>
\n[3] A.P. Cohn, W.R. Erwin, K. Share, L. Oakes, A.S. Westover, R.E. Carter, R. Bardhan, and C.L. Pint, \u201cAll silicon electrode photo-capacitor for integrated energy storage and conversion,\u201d Nano Letters 15, 2727-2731, (2015).
\n<\/a>[4] A.S. Westover, K. Share, R. Carter, A.P. Cohn, L. Oakes, and C.L. Pint, \u201cDirect integration of a supercapacitor into the backside of a silicon photovoltaic device,\u201d Applied Physics Letters 104, 213905 (2014).<\/a>
\n[5] T. Metke, A.S. Westover, R. Carter, L. Oakes, A. Douglas, and C.L. Pint, \u201cParticulate-free porous silicon networks for efficient capacitive deionization water desalination,\u201d Scientific Reports 6, 24680 (2016).<\/a><\/h6>\n

<\/h2>\n

Picture credits:\u00a0 Area 3, picture credit article 10.1557\/mrs.2014.1, “Elastic strain engineering of Ferroic oxides”\u00a0 MRS Bulletin.
\nArea 4: picture credit from “Developing inkjet printed batteries” found here: http:\/\/www.electrochem.org\/redcat-blog\/category\/sustainabilitysci\/batteries\/<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Pint Lab research\u00a0effort combines a multidisciplinary team of the most talented and vision-driven researchers in the world to solve\u00a0problems that require innovative solutions.\u00a0 Our goal is not to improve existing systems, but to create new systems forged through guiding … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":822,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"onecolumn-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/pintlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/pintlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/pintlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/pintlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/822"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/pintlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/pintlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":647,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/pintlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions\/647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/pintlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}