Electrosprays for Energy Conversion and Storage

The electrospray is a liquid atomization technique that generates a monodisperse population of highly charged liquid droplets over a broad size range (nanometric to tens of microns). We demonstrate how electrosprays can be applied to mesoporous film formation for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) and nanoparticle synthesis for lithium ion batteries. We show that a variety of film morphologies can be achieved and measure DSSC performance for various film microstructures and fabrication protocols. On the battery side, we develop a dual-electrospray configuration to synthesize metal oxide particles from liquid precursors and apply them to lithium ion battery anodes.