Carnegie Mellon University

Francesca Lorandi

Krzysztof A Matyjaszewski

Yi Jing Wang

Jay Whitacre

Pawel Chmielarz

Marco Fantin

Sipei Li

A process for the formation of a deformable battery electrode includes mixing a metal component including at least one of a metal or a metal alloy, a polymer component, and a dispersant component to create a mixture. The method further includes heated the mixture to a temperature above the melting point of the metal or the metal alloy and agitating the mixture to form a dispersion of the (molten) metal or the metal alloy in the mixture. The method further includes cooling the mixture to a temperature below the melting point of the metal or the metal alloy to form a stabilized dispersion of the metal or the metal alloy. The polymer component includes a polymer having a melting point equal to or below that of the metal or the metal alloy and a glass transition temperature sufficiently low that the stabilized dispersion is deformable.

Electrode compositions and systems for batteries

Systems and methods for Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP) emulsion polymerization are provided. The ATRP emulsion polymerization comprises a suspending medium, a dispersed medium, a surfactant, a transition metal compound in a higher oxidation state, a ligand, and an ATRP initiator. The transition metal compound is capable of forming a catalyst complex in a presence of the ligand. The catalyst complex is soluble in the suspending medium and is capable of forming an ionic complex with the surfactant. The ionic complex is capable of moving between the suspending medium and the dispersed medium. A portion of the transition metal compound in the higher oxidation state within a portion of the catalyst complex is reduced by a physical and/or a chemical procedure thereby initiating a polymerization of one or more radically (co)polymerizable monomers by reaction with the initiator.

Surfactant assisted formation of a catalyst complex for emulsion atom transfer radical polymerization processes

Growing community of inventors

Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America

Francesca Lorandi