Thesis defence

You are welcome to attend Sungo Park's final PhD defense, in which he will discuss his research into developing a technology to characterize and process environmentally friendly materials using starch as co-polymer and nano-filler. The research aimed to extend the range of properties of starch materials while maintaining environmental benefits and competitive physical properties for applications such as packaging and agriculture.

The Department of Chemical Engineering is hosting the PhD defence of Maryam Omidvarm, a PhD candidate from the University at Buffalo, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

Committee members:

• Dr. Haiqing Lin (Advisor)
• Dr. Chong Cheng
• Dr. Mark Swihart

Supervisor: Professor Mark Pritzker, Chemical Engineering

Supervisor: Professor Zhongwei Chen, Chemical Engineering

Supervisor: Professor Christine Moresoli, Chemical Engineering

Supervisor: Frank Gu, Chemical Engineering

Supervisor: Zhongwei Chen, Chemical Engineering

Supervisors: Ali Elkamel, Chemical Engineering, and William Anderson, Chemical Engineering

Supervisor: Michael Fowler, Chemical Engineering

All-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) are widely regarded as a promising next-generation energy-storage technology due to their potential to deliver enhanced safety, higher energy density, and improved compatibility with high-voltage electrode materials. This thesis focuses on the design, structural elucidation, and interfacial engineering of halide and sulfide solid electrolytes for high-voltage ASSBs, with particular emphasis on understanding how crystallographic disorder and chemical modification influence lithium-ion transport and interfacial stability. A comprehensive suite of experimental and computational techniques—including synchrotron and neutron diffraction, total scattering and pair distribution function analysis, electron microscopy, X-ray spectroscopies, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), electrochemical characterization, and first-principles calculations—is employed to establish robust structure–property–interface relationships.