Thermofluids Seminar: “Thermal Transport in Mesoscale Heterogeneous Systems” by Amy Marconnet

Abstract: A key thermal engineering challenge for integrating new nanostructured materials into devices is the development of accurate and reliable experimental and analytical techniques for thermal characterization across multiple length scales. We address this challenge by integrating the material synthesis with thermal property measurements and physics-based analysis. Often to achieve the desired functionality, multiples materials are combined together to form heterogeneous composites. For example, in lithium ion batteries, the particulate active materials (with micro- and nano-scale features) are sandwiched between metal electrodes and polymer-based separators with microscale thicknesses to form macroscale battery cells. In this seminar, I will discuss infrared microscopy-based techniques to probe the thermal transport properties and interface resistances in lithium ion battery cells. Ultimately the properties measured with microscale resolution can be incorporated into thermal-electrochemical models of the battery to predict performance and failure.

Biosketch: Amy Marconnet is an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. She received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2007, and an M.S. and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University in 2009 and 2012, respectively. She then worked briefly as a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, before joining the faculty at Purdue University in 2013. Research in the Marconnet Thermal and Energy Conversion Lab (M-TEC) integrates metrology and analysis of underlying transport mechanisms with design and development of nanostructured materials for heat transfer and energy conversion applications.

Date/Time:
Date(s) - Feb 24, 2017
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Location:
38-138 Engineering IV
420 Westwood Plaza Los Angeles CA 90095