Collaborative Research: Understanding Metastability in Nanostructured Metal Oxides via Electrochemically Driven Amorphous-to-Crystalline Phase Transformations

Reliable energy storage is essential for strengthening the nation's electric grid, expanding the use of data centers, and powering electric vehicles. Achieving these goals requires new battery materials that can store more energy, charge more quickly, and operate reliably over long periods of time. Batteries use electrochemical reactions to store energy. This project will study how these electrochemical reactions can be used to create new materials with properties that cannot be achieved using conventional manufacturing methods. The project will advance the fundamental science of how battery materials are made, providing new strategies for designing more efficient and durable energy storage technologies. The project will also train undergraduate and graduate students through interdisciplinary research, collaborations with national laboratories, and outreach activities that introduce students to materials science, electrochemistry, and computational modeling. By advancing fundamental materials science through electrochemical means, enabling new approaches to battery manufacturing, and preparing the next generation of scientists and engineers, this project will support U.S. energy security, economic competitiveness, and scientific leadership. This project will establish a new scientific framework for understanding electrochemically driven transformations in nanostructured metal oxides that occur during battery operation. The research will investigate titanium oxide, niobium oxide, tantalum oxide, and related mixed oxides to determine how composition, atomic structure, morphology, and electrochemical conditions govern the formation of metastable crystalline materials with enhanced electrochemical properties. The project integrates advanced materials synthesis, operando and in situ structural and electrochemical characterization, and machine learning-assisted first-principles simulations to reveal the fundamental mechanisms controlling these transformations. The resulting experimental and computational insights will establish design principles for electrochemical synthesis of metastable oxide materials with improved charge storage, ion transport, and cycling stability. These discoveries will provide a foundation for the rational design of next-generation battery materials and broaden the understanding of electrochemical materials synthesis for future energy technologies. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.