Professor Gabriel Lemcoff, Dean of The Faculty of Natural Sciences, is honored to invite you to The Dean's Podium
From Materials-Electrolyte Innovations to New Sustainable Battery Chemistries
Professor Jean-Marie Tarascon
College de France, Paris; Director of the French Research Network on Electrochemical Energy Storage
Abstract
Batteries, as one of the most versatile energy storage technologies, play a central role in the ongoing transition
from fossil fuels to renewable energy. They are becoming the heart of our society owing to the key role they play
within the field of electrical mobility, grid applications, and connected objects. Therefore, the enhancement of the
battery performance, reliability, longevity, and sustainability become a crucial challenge for the years to come, as
it will enable them to reduce their environmental footprint and contribute to climatic neutrality. To meet this challenge,
new materials concepts together with novel chemistries, advanced electrolyte designs, and innovative sensing
strategies are sorely needed. This presentation will address these various aspects through specific examples.
Firstly, regarding new concepts, we will show how the discovery of anionic redox activity has helped in unraveling
numerous Li-rich layered oxides or sulfides electrode materials with high-capacity electrodes. Towards, higher
energy density systems, recent advances on solid-state Li batteries relying on Li-rich sulfide electrodes will be
discussed. Concerning new chemistry, we will present our new findings with the Na-ion chemistry, which enlists
the confection of an optimized electrolyte, that enable the practical development of the Na-ion technology. Lastly,
the benefits of adding sensing and self-healing functionalities within a battery will be presented with a strong
emphasis on optical sensing that represents a transformational change in the science of battery diagnoses. Through
these examples, we hope to convey that the future of battery offers exciting opportunities as long as we are willing
to explore new risky paths.
Short Bio
Jean-Marie Tarascon is a Solid-State Chemistry scientist. He started his carrier in the U.S., first at Cornell
University (1980), and subsequently at Bell Labs and Bellcore until 1994. He then became a professor at the
Université de Picardie Jules Verne and director of the Laboratoire de Réactivité et Chimie des Solides (LRCS UMR
CNRS 7314) in Amiens. In 2011, he founded the French Research Network on Electrochemical Energy Storage
(RS2E), a CNRS research federation grouping together industrial and academic actors in the battery and
supercapacitor fields.
Among his first research topics were the electronic properties of Chevrel phases as well as their ability to insert
alkali cations. At the end of the 1980s, Jean-Marie Tarascon headed the chemistry group at Bellcore and worked
at high Tc cuprates supraconductors and the role of oxygen non-stoichiometry, cationic substitutions,
magnetism, or structure modulation. He thereafter came back to electrochemistry and became a globally
recognized specialist in energy storage. Jean-Marie Tarascon’s credits as a battery researcher include the
development of a plastic and flexible Li-ion battery. Since he moved back to France, he has been working on
advanced technologies for tomorrow’s batteries, enlisting the development of new “chimie douce” synthesis
routes for battery materials, Li-rich layered materials, metal-air batteries, and electrocatalytic reactions as well as
redox flow systems and other technologies beyond Li-ion batteries (for instance Na-ion batteries). He accepted
the Chair of Solid-State Chemistry and Energy (Chimie du Solide et Energie) at the Collège de France in 2014,
where he has been a professor since.
