Oxides with fast ion-conduction are crucial components for a wide range of applications including batteries and solid-oxide fuel cells, which are needed for societal adoption of renewable energy technologies. However, progress in the research and development of ion-conducting ceramics has been sluggish, as time-consuming synthesis and sintering act as a bottleneck to new materials discovery. 

The project team will leverage their ultra-high-temperature synthesis technique that can rapidly sinter oxide materials in about 10 seconds, integrated with computational modeling and high-throughput measurements, to accelerate the discovery and design of novel oxide materials. The integrated closed-loop framework will advance a general paradigm for materials design and discovery in a fraction of the time of conventional discovery. Through this project, novel sodium-ion conducting materials will be discovered, which can be used for sodium batteries as economic, environmental-friendly, and sustainable alternatives to lithium-ion batteries for renewable energy storage. In addition, this project will leverage the interdisciplinary research program to create unique educational opportunities for a diverse group of graduate, undergraduate, K-12 students, and under-represented minorities.