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PHYSICS MATTERS — On-line Colloquia Series

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PHYSICS MATTERS — On-line Colloquia Series

as a “Physics for Development” initiative in COVID times

The APS Forum on International Physics (FIP) is pleased to announce the PHYSICS MATTERS on-line colloquia series. The main goal of these on-line colloquia as part of the “Physics for Development” program of FIP is to support international engagement for APS among students and early career physicists, targeting developing community audiences, especially in a time when, due to the COVID pandemic, travel is difficult or even impossible.

Watch the PHYSICS MATTERS trailer below

Credits: @CERN, video editor and director: Samuel Hertzog, authors: Paola Catapano and Luisa Cifarelli

The first phase of the PHYSICS MATTERS series took place in the fall of 2020 from November to December, with weekly colloquia. These were pre-RECORDED video colloquia, each made available without registration for several days to ease its access no matter the time zone. All the speakers were asked to talk in a way that could stimulate curiosity and create a flow of ideas that is both educational and interesting to a broad community.
The recordings of the 2020 program can still be viewed from this web page (see below).
In 2021 we plan to continue the PHYSICS MATTERS series with LIVE on-line colloquia that will primarily target and involve some test centers, selected from within the partner countries of the SESAME project (Synchrotron-Light for
Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East), a project supported by the APS.
Our goal is however to enlarge the audience to as many developing communities as possible and share those exciting colloquia with the public. Hence, FIP wants to build capacity and enable developing communities. The live events will be organized in coordination with in-country physics societies and knowledgeable diaspora to ensure good video connections. Of course, they will be also open to all APS FIP members and FIP friends.  

View Past Recordings

2023 PROGRAM

"Role of large-scale facilities for battery research and innovation” by Prof. Aleksandar Matic

Thursday April 27, 2023
16:00 CET  (10:00 ET)

Register Here

Abstract
Over the last 20 years rechargeable Li-ion batteries have transformed our everyday life with portable computers, tablets, cell phones, and power tools. Now they also underpin necessary developments towards sustainable technology solutions with the transition to electromobility and grid energy storage in renewable power systems. These new applications also add new demands in terms of capacity and capabilities, such as energy density, fast charging and operational temperature range. In addition, with large scale applications there is increased focus on sustainability from both raw materials and processing point of view. To meet these demands there are today intense research efforts world-wide in order to optimize and extend current Li-ion technology as well as exploring next generation battery chemistries and configurations, e.g. solid state, Na-ion, Li-metal and Li-sulphur batteries.

Advanced characterization is central in order to underpin the needed development of battery technology. Understanding functionality of new materials, mechanisms of new chemistries and processes and degradation of materials in full cells, requires characterization over length scales from Ångström to m, from ps to hours and with chemical selectivity. In particular, it is of interest to look into working cells in real time and to be able to perform multimodal experiments, where several properties are probed at the same time or on the same material. With the rapid development of synchrotron x-ray and neutron technology, new opportunities open up to address these challenges through the development of new sources, instrumentation and computational methods. In this colloquium we discuss the application of advanced x-ray and neutron scattering and imaging techniques to accelerate development of next generation technology and innovations. In particular, the potential for operando experiment, where we look into working batteries, workflows, access and ways if working with the community are at focus.

Biography: 

Aleksandar Matic is professor of Physics and Head of the Division for Materials Physics; Department of Physics, Chalmers University of Technology. His research interests span from fundamentals of soft matter to applied research on materials for energy applications. A particular focus is materials for next generation batteries, e.g. LiS batteries, nano-strucured carbon materials, interface engineering of Li-metal surfaces and development of ionic liquid based electrolytes. He also has a strong interest in the use and development of large scale facilities for synchrotron X-ray and neutron scattering.