MSE Colloquium: Karena Chapman, Structural Studies at the Energy Frontier

Abstract

Our energy needs drive widespread materials research, from energy storage in lithium-ion batteries to novel catalysts for natural gas conversion to selective capture of radiological gases within porous media for safer nuclear energy. Breakthroughs in performance can be driven by advances in the materials themselves or in the tools that we use to understand their function and limitations. By exploiting advanced crystallographic tools that allow us to probe the atomic structure of energy materials in-situ, as they operate, we can identify how their structure is linked to their functional properties and performance. These fundamental insights serve as a road map to enhance performance in the next-generation of advanced energy materials.

This presentation will describe examples of recent work demonstrating the valuable insights that synchrotron-based experiments can provide into the structure-function relationship in energy-relevant materials, focusing on identifying the processes that lead to capacity loss in battery electrodes, and temperature and the pressure-induced distortions of novel metal-organic framework-based with applications in catalysis and radiological gas capture . These examples will highlight the new levels of understanding provided by in-situ and operando studie.

Bio

Dr Karena Chapman is a Chemist within the X-ray Science Division at Argonne National Laboratory. In this role she develops and applies advanced synchrotron-based characterization tools to explore the coupled structure and activity of energy materials, including in battery electrodes and electrolytes, catalysts, and porous framework materials for strategic gas capture. Specifically, her research exploits pair distribution function (PDF) analysis, often applied in-situ, to probe the atomic and nano-scale structure of crystalline, nano, and amorphous materials that are beyond the limits of conventional crystallography. Dr Chapman has published over 120 peer reviewer papers and has presented at over 70 national and international conferences. She leads the dedicated PDF instrument, 11-ID-B, at Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source and serves as co-editor of the Journal of Applied Crystallography. In 2015 she was awarded the MRS Outstanding Young Investigator Award for her contributions to understanding the coupled structure and reactivity of energy-relevant systems and for developing the incisive experimental and analytical tools needed to interrogate these complex materials systems. She joined Argonne in 2005 as the Arthur Holly Compton Postdoctoral Scholar, becoming staff in 2009. Before moving to Argonne she received her B.Sc. (2002) and PhD (2006) in Chemistry from the University of Sydney, Australia.