Speakers

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Professor Selmiye Gürsel Alkan
Sabancı University

“Fundamentals & Advances in PEM Fuel Cells’

Fuel Cells are one of a variety of electrochemical power sources but are more precisely devices designed to convert chemical energy directly to electrical energy. In this lecture, the comparison of fuel cells with batteries, a brief history of fuel cells, fuel cell types, applications of fuel cells, polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), chemistry & thermodynamics of fuel cells, performance & polarization characteristics, fuel cell components (electrolyte, membrane, catalyst layer, GDL) and new materials & new approaches for PEMFC will be presented.

Selmiye Alkan Gürsel received BSc, MSc and PhD degrees from the Middle East Technical University Department of Chemistry and, as part of her doctoral studies, she carried out research on electrochromic polymers at the University of Florida (USA). She conducted post-doctoral studies on fuel cells in the General Energy Department of Paul Scherrer Institute. She has been working as a faculty member in the Materials Science and Nano Engineering Program at Sabanci University since 2008. She is directing and participating various international and national projects on fuel cells, polymer membranes, graphene, lithium-ion batteries, lithium -air batteries, electrolyzers. She participated in Graphene Flagship Project, in FP7 (Graphene-Driven Revolutions in ICT and Beyond) and Horizon 2020 (Graphene- Based Disruptive Technologies) phases as the primary investigator, scientific representative of the work package on fuel cells and national contact point from Turkey. She was awarded by L’Oreal Young Woman in Science Scholarship 2010, METU Prof. Dr. Mustafa N. PARLAR Research Incentive Award 2012, Science Academy -Young Academics Prize Scholarships (BAGEP) 2013. She received “Academic Prize” in the inaugural Women Energizing Turkey Awards endowed by the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources in 2018. She is currently Vice-Dean of Research at Sabanci University Faculty of Engineering & Natural Sciences.

 

Professor  Kadri Aydınol
Middle East Technical University

“Battery research in relation to plant-scale  manufacturing“

Lithium ion batteries. Cell types and components; acitve materials, additives, binders, electrolytes, separators, current collectors and battery casing. Battery processing and equipment; slurry mixing, coating, calendering, electrode cutting, winding/stacking, electrolyte filling and cell closing. Critically important process parameters. 

Kadri Aydınol is a professor in the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at Middle East Technical University (METU). He received his PhD in Metallurgical Engineering in 1994 at METU. He then joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, as a post-doc, working in the field of Li-ion battery research. Having  returned to METU in 1998,  he has led a research group with accumulated  experience on processing,  structural and electrochemical characterization of active materials used in lead-acid, nickel-metal hydride, lithium-ion, silver-zinc, zinc-air batteries,  together with an experience in industrial cell making processes.

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Dr. Tugrul Cetinkaya
Sakarya University

“Li-ion Batteries- an Overview “

Lithium-ion batteries have become the most important battery technology from portable devices to electric vehicles globally due to their high volumetric and specific energy densities. In this lecture, the working mechanisms, components, characterization techniques and degradation mechanisms of lithium-ion batteries will be presented. New generation lithium-ion batteries will be covered in terms of the new anodes, cathodes, and electrolytes, and post-lithium-ion battery technology will be discussed in relation to future battery needs.

Dr. Tugrul Cetinkaya obtained his PhD (2015) in Metallurgy and Materials Engineering from Sakarya University. He was a postdoc for a year in 2017 at the National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester, before joining Sakarya University where he is currently an associate Professor. He has been principal investigator and co-investigator in international and national projects funded by EC-FP7, Era-Net, EIG-Concert Japan, and TUBITAK. Dr. Cetinkaya authored more than 60 peer-reviewed scientific papers focusing on novel nanocomposite electrodes using 2D materials, liquid and polymer electrolytes, and scalable performance of nanocomposite electrodes for electrochemical energy storage devices.

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Dr. Babu Chalamala
Sandia National Laboratory

“Emerging eT&D  Grids: Energy Storage, Electrification, and Modernization of Electricity Infrastructure”  

Electric grid today, Major trends: Growth of natural gas and renewable generation, Growth of renewables and  cost reductions. Additional Ttends: Electrification of transportation fleet, Distributed generation trend, Countries driving major policies for clean energy. Disruptions at the grid rdge, Are we at the cusp of a major transformation, Energy transition cycles are long (50 year cycles), Evolution of the grid, Increasing role of power electronics in electricity infrastructure, Role of energy storage in the grid, Energy storage in the grid today, Energy storage system needs and applications, Rechargeable battery Technologies.

Energy storage is not just batteries, Advances in high performance rechargeable batteries, Power electronics R&D needs,  Power electronics and power converters, Modular power conversion systems, Resilient power electronic infrastructure, Power electronics and energy storage,  Electronic T&D grids are communications Intensive, Need for modernized communications, Security of eT&D grids, Grid R&D needs.

Dr. Babu Chalamala is  Manager of the Energy Storage Technology and Systems Department at  Sandia National Laboratory,. Prior to joining Sandia in August 2015, he was a Corporate Fellow at SunEdison (formerly MEMC Electronic Materials) for five years, where he led R&D and product development in grid scale energy storage. Before that, he founded two startup companies commercializing large format lithium batteries and digital x-ray sources. Earlier, as a research staff member at Motorola, Research Triangle Institute, and Texas Instruments, he made contribution to the development of electronic materials and device technologies. He received his B.Tech degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Sri Venkateswara University and his PhD degree in Physics from the University of North Texas. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and Academy of Sciences St Louis, a Life Member of the Electrochemical Society, and a Member of the Materials Research Society. As chair of the IEEE Photonics Society Technical Committee on Displays, he was instrumental in launching the IEEE/OSA Journal of Display Technology. He has been an active member of the Materials Research Society for twenty years and served as General Chair of the 2006 MRS Fall Meeting. He was a guest editor of the MRS Bulletin, Proceedings of the IEEE, and the IEEE Journal on Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, and served on the editorial boards of the Proceedings of the IEEE and IEEE Access. He received the 2015 James Eads Award of the Academy of Sciences St Louis.

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Dr.  Duncan Paul Fagg
University of Aveiro, Portugal.

“Overviews: Protonic Fuel cells”

The intermediate-temperature (IT) range of 300 to 600 °C has been accepted as the most desirable operating regime for fuel cells. The temperature interval referred to provide sufficient thermal energy to allow the use of less expensive catalysts, and also avoid severe damage to constituent materials. In this respect protonic ceramics have attracted attention due to their high ionic conductivity at intermediate temperatures. Protons in suitable selected ceramics can be transported with activation energies as low as 0.5 eV or below, and can exist at temperatures much higher than the boiling point of water (100 °C). In the two hour lecture first similarities and differences will be highlighted with regard to Protonic, PEM and SOFC Fuel cells. Then varios aspects which constitute the problem area of protonic fuel cells will be dealt with

Dr. Duncan Fagg is currently employed as a Principal Researcher in the nanotechnology research division (NRD)   in the University of Aveiro, Portugal. He  obtained his B.SC in Chemstry and Materials science  Nottingham University 1992 and Ph.D. in Chemistry Aberdeen University 1997. He has over 20 years of research experience with previous placements in CICECO Aveiro, Portugal, ICV Autonomous University Madrid, Spain, Dept.Chemical Engineering, Patras Greece, School of Chemistry, St-Andrews University Scotland, and Risø DTU National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Roskilde Denmark.  He is the author of over 100 international scientific publications in areas covering   Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC), Solid Oxide Electrolyser Cells (SOEC), Oxygen separation membranes, Hydrogen separation membranes, Hydrogen Storage.

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Professor Saim Ozkar
Middle East Technical University

“Catalysis – A brief Overview ”

A catalyst is a substance that accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction by proceeding the chemical reaction on a new pathway with the lower activation energy. On the other hand, catalysis is the occurrence, study, and use of catalysts and catalytic processes. The science and technology of catalysis is of great significance as it affects our daily life. It finds applications in many important sectors of the world economy; petroleum and energy production, chemicals and polymer production, food industry and pollution control, energy storage and conversion etc. In this regard, catalysis is an interdisciplinary field of science that concern researchers in many fields of science. In this lecture, firstly important concepts and terms in catalysis will be introduced. Next, the concept of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis will be discussed considering the activity, reusability and lifetime of the catalysts. After the brief introduction to the fundamentals of catalysis, the rational design of catalysts with optimum activity and selectivity for the specific reactions will be discussed. In the final part of the lecture, a considerably significant time will be spent on the introduction to the nanocatalysis and the selected catalytic applications of transition metal nanoparticles in energy storage and conversion will be discussed.

Saim Özkar has completed his undergraduate study in chemical engineering at the Technical University of Istanbul in 1972, and then worked for two years in industry. He received his Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry at the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 1976 before joining the Department of Chemistry, Middle East Technical University as an Assistant Professor in 1979, where he is now a Full Professor. He spent one year at the Max Planck Institute in Mülheim as Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation Scholar in 1986, 2 years at University of Toronto as visiting professor in 1988-1990, and 9 months at Colorado State University as Fulbright Fellow in 2000. His current research interests involve the transition metal nanoparticles; synthesis, characterisation, and catalytic applications in hydrogen generation, hydrogenation, oxidation, and coupling reactions.Saim Özkar was awarded the TÜBİTAK 1996 Science Prize and has been a member of Turkish Academy of Sciences since 1996.

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Prof. Y Eren Kalay
Middle East Technical University

“In Situ Synchrotron Diffraction and Rietveld Analysis”

In this lecture, following the basics of  X-ray  diffraction, emphasis will be placed on in-situ characterization techniques based on synchrotron radiation  using sequential Rietveld analysis.

Yunus Eren Kalay received his B.Sc(2001) and M.Sc.(2003) degrees in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from the Middle East Technical University. He obtained his PhD in Iowa State University in 2009. He was a post-doc for 2 years in Ames laboratory before he joined METU where he is an associate professor at the Materials Engineering Dept. Professor Kalay’s research centers on amorphous alloys, namely on the evolvement and the control of amorphous structure during solidification. Prof Kalay has an in-depth expertise on material characterization techniques. This includes advanced electron microscopy techniques which he applied to a wide spectrum of material problems ranging from electronic packaging, rare earth-free magnets and single crystal enhancement. His expertise also includes in-situ experiments involving synchrotron radiation. He actively promotes the use of synchrotron radiation and  in-situ experiments  for material research. Prof Kalay is the editor of MATTER, a journal dedicated to publishing undergraduate research. He is also an active promoter of science in pre-university education.

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Dr. Burak Ulgut
Bilkent University

“Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy for battery research”

Impedance spectroscopy is an experimental tool that can yield fundamental materials information in  electrochemical storage systems. Basics of impedance spectroscopy will be covered including the basic math and experimental methods. Emphasis will be placed on validating the obtained data and distinguishing the effects of instrumental and sample-based artifacts from actual physical parameters. Applications to energy storage will be discussed using examples of supercapacitors and batteries.

Dr.Burak Ülgüt got his PhD in Electrochemistry from Cornell University in 2007. He  was a postdoc at the Optoelectronics group in the same university for a year. He  then spent 6 years in Gamry Instruments developing various instrumental tools about Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy and Spectroelectrochemistry. In 2014 he returned to Turkey to spend a year at Inci Aku as an R&D executive. In the fall of 2015 he joined the Chemistry department of Bilkent University where he is leading a research group working on developing new electrochemical measurement and modeling methodologies mostly geared towards a better understanding of energy storage and conversion systems.

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