UW-P Research on Lithium-Ion Batteries
PLATTEVILLE ? Karland A. Kilian, lecturer in the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Department of Chemistry and Engineering Physics, has received an Applied Research Grant for $50,000 to develop a new material for one of the electrodes in lithium-ion batteries. James Hamilton, UWP professor in the same department, is the co-principal investigator and assisted Kilian in writing the grant proposal.

The application process required a description of the current materials being used and how the new product would be more beneficial. A timeline for completion and detailed budget were also included.

The proposal was submitted in mid-January and the team received the award this May.

?Right now, one electrode in a lithium-ion battery uses a compound, lithium cobalt oxide, which suffers from slow diffusion of the lithium ions,? said Kilian. ?This slow diffusion reduces the rate at which the battery can charge or discharge.?

Kilian added that the goal of the project is to combine graphene, provided by Dr. Hamilton?s company, Graphene Solutions, with titanium dioxide to create an electrode that will improve the charge-discharge rate of the battery.

According to Kilian, titanium dioxide is an abundant, low-cost and environmentally friendly material that is used extensively in white paint and paper, among other products.

Kilian will use a state-of-the-art battery tester to determine the properties of lithium-ion cells. A cell is a single device that produces charge and batteries are made up of several of them.

Joseph (Tsunghsueh) Wu, UWP assistant professor of chemistry and engineering physics, and Michael Zach, assistant professor of chemistry at UW-Stevens Point, will collaborate with Kilian and Hamilton on the project. The research and cell creation will be done on the UWP campus, and the group will look to hire a student to assist.

The group hopes to create an electrode material that can be produced in commercial quantities. Any intellectual property created will be protected through the WiSys Technology Foundation, an organization that identifies innovative technologies developed throughout the UW System and brings them to the marketplace for the benefit of the inventors, their colleges, Wisconsin?s economy and society as a whole, according to their website.

For more information, contact Kilian at (608) 342-6059 or kilian@uwplatt.edu.

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