CAREER: Materials, Electrolyte, and Interphase Design for Rechargeable Fluoride-Ion Batteries

Fluoride ion batteries are a promising class of energy storage devices that use earth-abundant elements such as fluorine, calcium, magnesium, and copper. These materials are widely available and avoid reliance on critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and vanadium, which have limited supply chains and are subject to geopolitical risks. The growing demand for reliable, cost-effective, and safe stationary storage is driven by rising electricity consumption, aging infrastructure, natural disasters, and the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence data centers. These facilities require uninterrupted power to manage variable loads and reduce downtime. This CAREER project addresses these challenges by advancing the scientific foundations of fluoride ion batteries and training a new generation of engineers and scientists. The researchers will investigate how fluoride ions will interact with the other battery components at a molecular level. The educational plan includes undergraduate research mentoring, curriculum development, and community outreach programs. Three new initiatives at University of California, Riverside (UCR) will be launched: National Lab Day to introduce students to research careers; the NanoScience Educator Workshop to train high school teachers; and a Day in the Lab experience to engage middle school students in hands-on STEM learning. The goal of this research is to understand how solvation structures and interphase formation influence fluoride ion transport and electrode reversibility in fluoride ion batteries. The project will integrate cryogenic transmission electron microscopy, advanced electrochemical methods, and synchrotron-based X-ray techniques. Three research objectives will be pursued. First, solvation structures will be designed using concentration tuning and hydrogen bonding among fluoride salts, solvents, and polymer matrices to promote stable interfaces. Second, the project will explore fluoride salts containing large organic cations to improve solubility, ion conductivity, and interphase properties in low-polarity solvent systems. Third, the interphase formation and failure mechanisms of electrode materials based on earth-abundant elements will be examined to improve electrochemical reversibility. This research will generate new knowledge in electrolyte and interface chemistry and help establish fluoride ion batteries as a viable platform for stationary energy storage in future grid and data center applications. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. NSF Award ID: 2541666 | Program: 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT | Principal Investigator: Ruoqian Lin | Institution: University of California-Riverside, RIVERSIDE, CA | Award Amount: $660,000 View on NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2541666 View on Research.gov: https://www.research.gov/awardapi-service/v1/awards/2541666.html