Amalie Ådlandsvik Skurtveit earned her PhD degree!

An efficient approach for storing electricity on a large scale is by rechargeable batteries. Li-ion batteries (LIBs) is the leading commercial technology used in everyday applications such as smartphones, laptops, and electric cars. The ever-increasing demand of LIBs has created significant pressure on the materials used in their production, raising concerns about potential resource depletion. One strategy to solve this issue involves diversifying battery technologies to include alternative materials and chemistries. However, advancing and optimizing these materials depend on understanding how they operate at a fundamental level. Thus, operando characterization methods have emerged as a powerful tool for gaining insights into the chemical changes that occur during actual use.

In this work, operando X-ray-based techniques have been used to investigate the reaction mechanisms of anode materials for Li- and Na-ion batteries. The first part describes what occurs to Li-ions inside partially lithiated materials when the electrochemical cycling has been interrupted. The second, and main part of this work, focuses on promising anode materials for Na-ion batteries, namely antimony chalcogenides (Sb₂X₃ where X = S, Se, Te). Notably, this research identifies a new phase, Na₅SbSe, as the fully sodiated product of Sb₂Se₃, revealing a more complex reaction mechanism than previously thought. This new phase allows Sb₂Se₃ anodes to operate under high (dis)charge rates.

Congratulations to Dr. Amalie Ådlandsvik Skurtveit for completing her disputation and earning her degree of Philosophiae Doctor!

Candidate contact information

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amalie-skurtveit/

amalie.skurtveit@kjemi.uio.no

+47 92082648