published_or_final_version / Electrical Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1936 S31

The frequency shifts and Q changes of a resonant microwave cavity were utilized as a basis for determining microwave properties of solids and liquids. The method employed consisted of varying the depth of penetration of a cylindrical sample of the material into a cavity operating in the TM0 1 0 Mode. The liquid samples were contained in a thin-walled quartz tube. The perturbation of the cavity was achieved by advancing the sample into the cavity along the symmetry axis by employing a micrometer drive appropriately calibrated for depth of penetration of the sample. A differentiation method was used to obtain the half-power points of the cavity resonance profile at each depth of penetration. The perturbation techniques for resonant cavities were used to reduce the experimental data obtained to physical parameters for the samples. The probing frequency employed was near 9 gHz.

A resonant microwave cavity technique was employed to study the dielectric behavior of some polar and non-polar liquids near the phase transition temperatures at microwave frequencies of 7.2, 9.2 and 10.1 GHz. The Slater perturbation equations for a resonant microwave cavity are briefly discussed to show that the above technique can be used to determine both the real and imaginary parts of dielectric response. Abrupt changes in dielectric response were observed near the phase transition temperatures for the polar liquids studied in this investigation. The dielectric relaxation phenomenon in liquids has been treated as a chemical rate process and the abrupt change in the dielectric response of the liquids near phase transition temperatures is shown to be related to the dramatic changes in the free energy of activation of the molecules. Some values of the free energy of activation were deduced for the various compounds from data obtained in this investigation.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Rechargeable lithium ion batteries are widely used in portable consumer electronics such as cellphones, laptops, etc. These batteries are capable to provide high energy density with no memory effect and they have small self-discharge when they are not in use, which increases their potential for future electric vehicles. Investigators are attempting to improve the performance of these cells by focusing on the energy density, cost, safety, and durability. The energy density improves with high operation voltage and high capacity. Before any further development of high voltage materials, safe electrolytes with high ionic conductivity, wide electrochemical window, and high stability with both electrodes need to be developed. In this thesis a new strategy was investigated to develop electrolytes that can contribute to the further development of battery technology. The first study is focused on preparing a hybrid electrolyte, the combination of inorganic solid and organic liquid, for lithium based rechargeable batteries to illustrate the effect of electrode/electrolyte interfacing on electrochemical performance. This system behaves as a self-safety device at higher temperatures and provides better performance in comparison with the solid electrolyte cell, and it is also competitive with the pure liquid electrolyte cell. Then a multilayer electrolyte cell (MEC) was designed and developed as a new tool for investigating electrode/electrolyte interfacial reactions in a battery system. The MEC consists of two liquid electrolytes (L.E.) separated by a solid electrolyte (S.E.) which prevents electrolyte crossover while selectively transporting Li+ ions. The MEC successfully reproduced the performance of LiFePO4 comparable with that obtained from coin cells. In addition, the origin of capacity fading in LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4full-cell (with graphite negative electrode) was studied using the MEC. The performance of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 MEC full-cell was superior to that of coin full-cell by eliminating the Mn dissolution problem on graphite negative electrode as evidenced by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. The MEC can be a strong tool for identifying the electrochemical performances of future high voltage positive electrode materials and their electrode/electrolyte interfacial reactions. Finally, by employing the multilayer electrolyte concept, a new application will be introduced to recycle the lithium. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using water and the contents of waste Li-ion batteries for the electrodes in a Li-liquid battery system. Li metal was collected electrochemically from a waste Li-ion battery containing Li-ion source materials from the battery’s anode, cathode, and electrolyte, thereby recycling the Li contained in the waste battery at the room temperature.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Due to the drastic increase in the cost of fossil fuels and other environmental issues, the demand for energy and its storage has risen globally. Rather than being dependent on intermittent energy sources like wind and solar energy, focus has been on alternative energy sources. To eliminate the need for fossil fuels, advances are being made to provide energy for hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) and pure electric vehicles (EV) thus providing scope for much greener environment. Hence, focus has been on development in lithium ion batteries to provide with materials that have high energy density and voltage. Ortho olivine lithium transitional metals are known to be abundant and inexpensive; these compounds are less noxious than other cathode materials. Advancement in research is being done in finding iron and manganese compounds as cathode materials for advanced technologies. However, Lithium manganese phosphates are known to suffer with poor electrochemical performances due the manganese dissolution in the organic liquid electrolyte due to Jahn-Teller Lattice distortion. This problem was tried to endorse in this thesis. In the second chapter by synthesizing nano sized cathode particles with good electronic conductivity, good performance was achieved. In the third chapter additive olivine cathode was synthesized my modified sol gel process. A wt. % of TMSP was added as an additive in the organic liquid electrolyte. By comparing the properties between the two kinds of electrolytes it was observed that by the addition of the additive in the organic electrolyte good electrochemical properties could be achieved hindering the Mn dissolution in the electrolyte. In the final chapter, a composite solid electrolyte was fabricated by using NASICON-type glass ceramic of Lithium aluminum titanium phosphate (LATP) with organic binder of Polyethylene oxide. The flexible solid electrolyte exhibited good ionic conductivity. An all solid state cell was fabricated using the composite solid electrolyte using LiMn2O4 as the symmetric electrodes. At different pressures, the performance of the solid state cell was studied.