Dr. Thein Kyu

Flexoionic Polymer Electrolyte Membranes:

Flexoelectricity generation occurs during the Cantilever bending of solid, flexoionic polymer electrolyte membranes developed at the laboratory of Thein Kyu. This novel flexoionic PEM material has opened new opportunity for energy harvesting from natural resources such as wind, ocean waves and rolling tires. The flexoelectric voltage and current thus generated are sizable for flexible sensor applications in smart wearable devices, including shoes/soles, wraps, sleeves, gloves or other garments to function as health monitoring therapeutic devices for electrocardiogram or electromyogram as well as to expedite pain relief or bone-healing of sports injuries.

Patent No: US 2018/0337417
Publication Date: 22 Nov 2018
Inventors: Thein Kyu, Camilo Piedrahita, Jinwei Cao

Solid-Sate Lithium Ion Battery:

The development of solid polymer electrolytes for lithium ion batteries has been a major challenge in the energy storage industry. In present lithium batteries, organic solvents are used as a means of energizing the ionic salt and promoting ion transport through polymer membranes. However, interaction between solvents and electrodes can lead to contamination, reducing battery shelf-life. Additionally, the organic reagents are contained in metal containers of various shapes, making batteries heavy and bulky, such that significant space is required for intended applications, e.g., electric vehicles. Moreover, damaged or leaky battery containers can present a safety risk.

The present work successfully produced a light weight solid polymer electrolyte film without requiring any solvent (see above). The chemistry is based on ternary blends of a polymer matrix, plasticizer, and ionic material. Specific examples are crosslinkable polyether, succinonitrile, and lithium salt. Optimized compositions can provide films which are flexible, transparent, and moldable in any shape or geometry, while maintaining outstanding ionic conductivity comparable to or better than the current lithium batteries that require organic solvents and separators.

Title: Stretchable, Solvent Free, Completely Amorphous Solid Electrolyte Films
Patent No: US 9,548,514
Issue Date: 17 Jan 2017
Inventors: Thein Kyu, Mauricio Echeverri

Flexoionic Sensor Embedded in Rubber:

Applications – Electrical energy harvesting from flexoionic PEMs embedded in a rubber compound subjected to dynamic oscillatory deformation

The flexoionic PEM film can be oscillated over 4800 cycles at ease as manifested by the invariant amplitude of the current thus generated.

Innovative solid polymer electrolyte membranes for all-solid-state Magnesium ion battery - Department of Energy: SBIR – Phase I Grant #DE-SC002479, a subcontract #2020-01 through Chemtronergy, LLC

Flexoionic polymer electrolyte membranes for energy harvesting and storage devices - Supported by NSF-DMR 1502543 “Neuron technologically inspired multilayered polymer electrolyte membranes to harness ion concentration gradient for energy restoration, (2015-2019)”

Free standing flexible lithium-ion polymer electrolyte membranes formed by photopolymerization:
NSF-DMR 1161070

Click on a link below to watch a video demonstration:

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Highlights of Accomplishment

• Completely amorphous and transparent
• Solid-state electrolyte and require no solvent
• Flexible and stretchable
• Light weight and moldable!
• Highly conductive (>E-3 S/cm)
• With safety and space saving attributes
• Extinguishable

Talents

• Mauricio Echeverri (Ph. D.)
• Ruixuan He (Ph. D. student)
• Guopeng Fu (MS student)
• Jinwei Cao (MS student)
• Cosetts Hamad (Copley High School)
• Daniel Ward (REU-UA, Miami University)