Shyam Annamalai

As a research intern at ASDRP, I explored the viability of silicon anodes by analyzing the performance of different shapes and compositions of micro and nanosilicon with new doping materials.
The aim of our research was to understand, contextualize, and analyze the environmental impacts of the five leading candidates for anode materials in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries: graphite, silicon, lithium, zinc, and aluminum. Using a novel metric, the Environmental Impact Score (EIS), we measured each material’s environmental impact by calculating a weighted sum of a dozen distinct environmental impacts, ranging from CO2 emissions to groundwater contamination. Each material was carefully researched for every environmental impact and given a score on a scale of 1-3 (low impact to large impact) for each cell.