Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Fudong Han, Priti and Mukesh Chatter ’82 Career Development Chair in Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering, has been awarded the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award for Electronic Transport in Sulfide-Based Lithium Solid Electrolytes. The NSF CAREEER award is presented to junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through research and education, and the integration of these endeavors in the context of their organizations’ missions.

Lithium-ion batteries have succeeded in powering portable electronics, but they face the challenges of safety and energy density for applications in electrification transportation and grid storage. Totaling $587,654, Han’s award aims to provide fundamental understandings of the intrinsic value, voltage dependence, root cause, and charge carrier of electronic conduction in solid electrolytes for the development of high-energy, long calendar-life solid-state batteries. Solid-state batteries that utilize nonflammable solid electrolytes (SEs) are being considered as a promising approach for safe and high-energy storage systems.

The proposed research could impact the advancement of the U.S. battery technology leadership and achievement of the nation’s strategic goal of full decarbonization by 2050.

Han received his B.S. degree in 2009 and his M.S. degree in 2012, both in materials science and engineering from Shandong University in China, and his Ph.D. degree in chemical engineering from University of Maryland College Park, where he also did one year of postdoctoral research. He was a guest scientist in the Materials for Energy and Sustainable Development Group at National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST). He has published more than 70 papers in scientific journals and is a recipient of the Electrochemical Society Electrodeposition Division Early Career Investigator Award, Electrochemical Society Battery Division Student Research Award, and Materials Research Society Graduate Student Gold Award.

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their organization.