Public Research Seminar by Advanced Materials Thrust - Simulation and Theoretical Studies on Non-equilibrium Phenomena in Inhomogeneous Polymeric and Ionic Liquid-Based Materials

Non-equilibrium phenomena have a universal presence and play an important role in the manufacture of inhomogeneous polymeric and ionic liquid-based materials. In solvent annealing polymer thin films, solvents enter into the films resolving defects and promoting long-range order. The annealing technique involves complicated non-equilibrium processes and final film morphologies are depending on kinetics during annealing and requires exquisite control. The second example is about room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) capacitors. When charging RTIL capacitor, the capacitance versus potential curve often shows hysteresis, a non-equilibrium phenomenon that leads to unexpected energy dissipation. Therefore, understanding physical mechanisms in non-equilibrium processes becomes critically important to improve and design new polymeric and ionic liquid-based materials. In my talk, I will present my work on developing simulation frameworks and theories to study non-equilibrium phenomena in the above examples. I’ll start my talk by presenting the development of a theory-informed molecular dynamics simulation framework to study how to kinetically control polymer film structures during solvent annealing and phase inversion processing. Next, I’ll show my work on reformulating a field theory to investigate surface charge-separation transition in RTIL capacitor and how to enhance energy storage in RTIL capacitor by means of the surface charge-separation transition and preferential ion adsorption on electrodes.