Nanotechnology in Advanced Electrochemical Power Sources

The challenge of providing adequate power on an indefinite basis without causing long-term damage to the environment requires a versatile means of energy conversion and storage. As such, electrical energy storage is becoming more vital today than at any time in human history. Electrochemical systems, such as batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells, and photoelectrochemical cells, can help meet this objective. Future generations of rechargeable lithium batteries will be required to power portable electronic devices, store electricity from renewable sources, and serve as a vital component to pursuing electric mobility in the future to reduce fossil fuel demand and mitigate environmental issues. In this context, engineering of new materials, especially at the nanoscale, has become imperative to achieve enhanced energy and power density to meet the future challenges of energy storage.

This book outlines the state of the art of nanoscale aspects of advanced energy storage devices, such as lithium-ion batteries, including microbatteries and electrochemical supercapacitors. It focuses on various fundamental issues related to device performance of various positive and negative electrode materials, with special reference to their nanoscale advantages. It also includes fundamentals and processing techniques with regard to synthesis, characterization, physical, and electrochemical properties, and applications of nanoscale materials pertaining to advanced electrochemical power sources. A variety of advanced nanomaterials, such as transition metal oxides, phosphates, silicates, and conversion electrodes, together with some special nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes, nanorods, and mesoporous carbons are discussed by many notable authorities in the field.

S. R. S. Prabaharan is a professor and program chair (embedded system) in the School of Electronics Engineering (SENSE), VIT University, Chennai campus, India, since January 2013. He received his PhD in solid state devices in 1992. His immediate past appointment was with Manipal International University, Malaysia, where he was heading the electrical and electronics engineering programme and served as a full professor. Prior to this appointment, he served a long tenure with the University of Nottingham Malaysia/UK campuses under joint appointments as a professor and the head of the Power and Energy Research Division. He has published over 75 papers in high-impact journals and over 200 conference proceedings. He has several international patents (USA and Japan) to his credit. He is known for his notable research in areas of Li-ion batteries, supercapacitors, and advanced power solutions for electronic gadgets.

M. S. Michael is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, SSN College of Engineering, Anna University, India. She received her PhD in 1996 in the field of corrosion from Madurai Kamaraj University, India. She also worked as a research fellow in the Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CECRI), a premier national laboratory in India. She then continued her post-doctoral fellowship at the Universiti Malaya, Multimedia University, Malaysia, and Université Pierre et Marie Curie, France, developing lithium-ion batteries. Dr. Michael has published more than 40 international peer-reviewed journal articles and has a few international patents to her credit. She has served on advisory boards and delivered invited talks in international conferences. Her expertise includes corrosion aspects of intermetallic alloys, hybrid supercapacitors, nanomaterials, lithium batteries, and Li–air batteries.