Batteries are ubiquitous in our everyday lives and often appear as black boxes. However, the chemistry inherent to their function is diverse and complicated.

This talk highlights progress and opportunities employing electrochemical energy storage to build a green energy future. Examples of mechanistic insight gained from electrochemistry-based and electrochemistry-coupled characterization of energy storage materials and systems are highlighted, emphasizing in situ and operando methods. Characterization approaches to spatially locate and resolve insertion and conversion processes, and distinguish productive and parasitic processes in functional systems are discussed.

Amy Marschilok is an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at Stony Brook University, where she holds an adjunct faculty position in the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, and serves as co-director of the Institute for Electrochemically Stored Energy. She holds a joint appointment as scientist, energy storage division manager, and energy systems division manager in the Interdisciplinary Science Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Prof. Marschilok also serves as deputy director for the Center for Mesoscale Transport Properties, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Currently, her research focuses on materials and electrode concepts for high-power, high-energy density, extended-life batteries. She is also interested in electrochemistry-based approaches for materials synthesis and characterization.

Prof. Marschilok completed her PhD at the University at Buffalo, US. She has mentored more than 50 student researchers and co-authored more than 200 publications. While previously employed as a senior scientist in the Medical Battery Research and Development group at Greatbatch Inc., she was recognized as a 2006 Visionary of the Year. She received a Woman of Distinction Award in the Education Category in 2011 from the Girl Scouts of Western New York, and 2010 Early Career Travel Award from the ECS Battery Division.