Acceleration of Materials Discovery and Understanding of Structure-Function Relationships for Si-anode Li-ion Batteries and Heavy-atom Free Upconversion-enhanced Photovoltaics

Abstract

In order to meet the challenges imposed by global climate change, new and better technologies to harvest and store solar energy are required. In order to meet these challenges in time to prevent the worst of the human cost of climate change, these technologies must be imagined, tested, and implemented rapidly. The work presented here describes work towards next-generation dynamic silicon Li-ion battery anodes, work towards photovoltaic efficiency beyond the detailed balance limit via photon upconversion and, chiefly, work towards acceleration of the processes of discovering and understanding the materials used in these technologies. This acceleration unites the areas of robotics and motion control, data science and machine learning, and mechanistic understanding of electrochemistry and photophysics to develop a platform on which to quickly interrogate and optimize energy generation and storage materials