Laura de Kort

The development of sustainable energy storage technologies, such as rechargeable batteries, is necessary for optimal use of renewable energy sources. Unfortunately, modern day Li-ion batteries are limited by their low energy density, short lifetime and safety issues. Recently, all-solid-state batteries, in which the common liquid organic electrolytes are replaced with solid-state electrolytes, have attracted increasing attention. While solid electrolytes could facilitate safer batteries with high capacities, a main challenge remains the development of suitable solid-state ion conductors. Metal hydrides, in particular complex metal hydrides, are a relatively new class of materials with great potential as solid electrolytes for batteries. However, these materials do not yet show sufficient ionic conductivity at ambient temperatures required for most battery applications.

The goal of this project is to develop novel borohydride based electrolytes with excellent ionic conductivity at room temperature. A combination of two approaches will be used; partial ionic substitution and confinement or encapsulation in nanoporous scaffolds. It has been shown that both methods individually lead to increased room-temperature ionic conductivity.[1,2] It is expected that this combination leads to synergetic effects that could increase the ionic conductivity by orders of magnitude.

Subsequently, the developed materials will be implemented in different all-solid-state Li batteries with different cathode materials. The electrochemical properties of the batteries as well as the nature and stability of the electrolyte/electrode interfaces will be studied using several electrochemical and in-situ characterization techniques.

[1] Blanchard, Didier, et al. “Nanoconfined LiBH₄ as a fast lithium ion conductor.” Advanced Functional Materials 25.2 (2015): 184-192.
[2] Maekawa, Hideki, et al. “Halide-stabilized LiBH₄, a room-temperature lithium fast-ion conductor.” Journal of the American Chemical Society 131.3 (2009): 894-895.

C.V.

Sep 2018 – Present
PhD Candidate MaterialsChemistry and Catalysis group, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. Promotors: Prof. de Jongh, Co-promotor: Dr. Ngene.

Dec 2017 – July 2018
Research intern TFT Technology, Holst Centre, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Research project supervised by Dr. Auke Kronemeijer and Roy Verbeek

Education

Feb 2016 – July 2018
MSc Nanomaterials: Chemistry & Physics, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. Master’s thesis entitled “Towards renewable fuels: The effect of upscaling on catalysts used for bio-oil upgrading” supervised by Ana Hernández Giménez, Dr. Gareth Whiting and Prof. Pieter Bruijnincx

Sep 2012 – Feb 2016
BSc Chemistry, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. Bachelor’s thesis entitled “Towards 2D nanoperiodic metals; reduction of metal chalcogenides nanocrystals” supervised by Dr. Carlo van Overbeek and Prof. Daniel Vanmaekelbergh