Cell fabrication
Cylindrical (18650-type) and pouch cell fabrication, from electrode slurry and coating to assembly and formation.
Facilities
Our laboratory in the Manufacturing Engineering Building covers the full battery workflow, from nanomaterial synthesis and electrode processing to cell assembly, testing and in situ characterization.
Argon glove box
MBRAUN UNIlab MB-200B workstation: a moisture- and oxygen-free argon atmosphere for handling lithium metal and electrolytes and for assembling cells.
Battery testing
40-channel Arbin Instruments battery tester for galvanostatic cycling, rate-capability and long-term life testing of coin, pouch and cylindrical cells.
Li–air battery testing station
Gas lines, flow meters and sealed test cells for lithium–oxygen chemistry and catalytic air cathodes.
Scanning electrochemical microscopy
SECM with in situ Raman (SECM-Raman) and AFM-SECM for nanoscale mapping of electrochemical reactions.
Chemical vapor deposition
In-house CVD for growth of 2D transition-metal dichalcogenides (MoS₂, WS₂, MoSe₂, WSe₂), graphene and carbon nanotubes.
Talos F200X G2 S/TEM (shared)
Field-emission scanning transmission electron microscope at Wayne State’s Lumigen Instrument Center, funded through NSF MRI award #2018587 with Prof. Arava as co-PI: 200/80 kV, 0.16 nm HAADF resolution, fast EDS elemental mapping and 3D tomography.
Equipment
- 40-channel battery testing system (Arbin Instruments)Galvanostatic cycling, rate-capability and long-term life testing of coin, pouch and cylindrical cells.
- UNIlab MB-200B glove box workstation (MBRAUN)Argon-filled, moisture- and oxygen-free workspace for handling lithium metal, electrolytes and air-sensitive materials, and for cell assembly.
- Coin cell assembly apparatus (Hohsen Corp.)Crimping and assembly of coin cells for fast screening of new electrodes, electrolytes and additives.
- Li–air battery testing facilityGas-controlled cells for lithium–oxygen chemistry, used for catalytic cathodes such as Pt sub-nanocluster-decorated N-doped carbon nanotubes (ACS Catalysis, 2016).
- Chemical vapor deposition (CVD)Growth of graphene, vertically aligned carbon nanotubes, metal-oxide nanostructures and 2D MoS₂/MoSe₂ layers for electrodes and sensors.
- Electrodeposition of metal, oxide and polymer nanowires/nanotubesTemplate-assisted growth of 3D and coaxial nanostructured electrodes, the approach behind coaxial MnO₂/carbon-nanotube arrays (Nano Letters, 2009) and 3D nanoporous nanowire current collectors (Nano Letters, 2012).
- Annealing furnace, vacuum and dry ovensCalcination and solid-state synthesis of cathode materials, heat treatment of nanomaterials and drying of electrodes before cell assembly.
- High-pressure reactors for nanomaterial synthesisHydrothermal and solvothermal synthesis stations with gas-flow control for nanomaterials and catalysts.
- In-house fabricated sensor workstationTesting of suspended MoS₂ field-effect biosensors on nano-gap electrodes (Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2021) and of the Micro Buoy water-quality sensors.
- AFM-based SECM-RamanBuilt in the lab under the NSF CAREER award: nanoscale, real-time maps of electrode reactions, such as lithium–sulfur interfaces (Nano Letters, 2019; Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 2022).
- Shared: Thermo Fisher Talos F200X G2 S/TEMLumigen Instrument Center, Wayne State (NSF MRI #2018587, Prof. Arava co-PI): atomic-resolution imaging and elemental mapping of electrode materials and interphases.
- Shared: Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2 3D printerTwo-photon nanoscale 3D printing with about 200 nm resolution in the WSU Nanofabrication Facility cleanroom (NSF MRI #2116715, Prof. Arava co-PI).
Where we are
Research laboratory: Manufacturing Engineering Building (Industrial and Systems Engineering), 4815 Fourth Street, Room 1044, Detroit, MI 48202.