Alex Hughes

Disordering of Sodium Ions in Sodium Metal Halide Electrolytes

Bio:

Alex Hughes is a first year Materials Science PhD student advised by Dr. Annalise Maughan. After completing his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering and B.A. in Russian at Michigan State University, he worked at Ford in new vehicle launch management. His current research is in chemically abundant sodium metal halide battery electrolytes with a focus on disordered systems and its effect on Na-ion conductivity.

Alex Hughes was awarded the CoorsTek Fellowship starting in Fall 2023.

Abstract:

Sodium-ion batteries are an important alternative to lithium-ion batteries due to the severe constraints on lithium availability expected in the coming years. Sodium metal halide solid state electrolytes are a promising class of materials that combine electrochemical stability against 4V cathodes with high formability for production in battery cells. We are exploring substitution in this material class to further understand how disorder among the metal cations impacts sodium ion conductivity to inform future material synthesis to achieve the benchmark conductivity of 1 mS cm-1.