Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

The Obrovac group has undertaken an ambitious research program to develop new practical battery technologies based on alternative metal ions to lithium. We are investigating battery systems based on sodium, magnesium, aluminum and other metals that are more abundant, less expensive and more environmentally friendly than lithium. In this way we hope to develop practical battery systems that can further enable the electrification of the automobile with significant benefits to Canadian industry, economy and the environment. This proposal is a request for an x-ray powder diffractometer, which will allow us to conduct this research program. An x-ray powder diffractometer determines the crystal structure of materials, allowing the identification of crystalline phases and is needed for us to understand mechanisms at the atomic scale. This equipment is essential to undertake this research program. Our lab simply cannot function without access to such an instrument. It identifies the materials we make, their purity, morphology and how they function. This instrument is also crucially needed by other groups to conduct research in Materials Chemistry, which is a major focus of the Department of Chemistry at Dalhousie University.