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Lithium-ion batteries have long been essential for powering modern devices, but the liquid electrolytes they use are unstable, creating risks of fire and safety concerns. Researchers at Penn State are now pursuing a safer energy storage alternative for laptops, smartphones, and electric vehicles: solid-state electrolytes (SSEs). According to Hongtao Sun, assistant professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering, solid-state batteries—which replace liquid electrolytes with SSEs—are a promising alternative to traditional lithium-ion technology. While there are key differences, both battery types share similar operational principles. "Rechargeable batteries have two internal electrodes: an anode and a cathode," Sun explained. "The electrolyte connects these two, allowing ions to move between them. In lithium-ion batteries, the electrolyte is liquid, but in solid-state batteries, it’s solid." Solid-state batteries offer greater stability and safety compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries but present manufacturing and conductivity challenges. One major obstacle is the high temperatures required to fabricate ceramic-based SSEs, which complicates production and practical use. To address this issue, Sun and his team turned to a technique called cold sintering—a process where powdered materials are treated with a small amount of liquid, gently heated, and then compressed into a dense form. This method operates at much lower temperatures than traditional sintering, relying on pressure and minimal heat rather than extreme temperatures. The researchers used cold sintering to integrate a highly conductive ceramic-polymer composite SSE known as LATP-PILG. Traditional ceramic SSEs consist of polycrystalline grains separated by grain boundaries, which act as defects that impede ion transport. To improve conductivity, Sun’s team co-sintered a poly-ionic liquid gel (PILG) with LATP ceramics, creating a polymer-in-ceramic composite that enhances stability and conductivity. https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=319 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=320 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=321 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=322 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=323 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=324 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=325 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=326 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=327 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=328 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=329 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=330 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=331 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=332 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=333 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=334 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=335 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=336 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=337 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=338 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=339 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=340 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=341 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=342 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=343 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=344 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=345 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=346 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=347 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=348 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=349 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=350 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=351 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=352 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=353 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=354 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=355 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=356 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=357 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=358 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=359 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=360 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=361 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=362 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=363 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=364 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=365 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=366 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=367 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=368 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=369 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=370 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=371 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=372 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=373 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=374 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=375 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=376 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=377 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=378 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=379 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=380 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=381 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=382 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=383 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=384 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=385 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=386 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=387 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=388 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=389 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=390 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=391 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=392 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=393 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=394 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=395 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=396 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=397 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=398 The PILG functions as a highly conductive "grain boundary," improving ion transport across engineered interfaces rather than through natural, defect-prone ones. Initial attempts to fabricate the composite using traditional high-temperature sintering failed because the high heat destroyed the polymer components before the ceramic could properly densify. "One of the main challenges with LATP-based composite SSEs is that conventional sintering temperatures are so high that additives like polymers burn away before the ceramic forms," Sun said. "This is why cold sintering, with much lower temperatures, was necessary." Cold sintering technology was first developed at Penn State in 2016 by Clive Randall, director of the Materials Research Institute. Its application to solid-state batteries began in 2018, when researchers in Enrique Gomez’s lab successfully cold sintered ceramic composite electrolytes. Traditional sintering requires temperatures reaching around 80% of a material’s melting point—often between 900 to 1,000 degrees Celsius for ceramics like LATP. In contrast, Sun’s team achieved successful cold sintering at just 150 degrees Celsius. "This lower temperature enables us to integrate different materials into a dense form without worrying about their distinct processing limits," Sun said. This advancement could significantly improve the manufacturing of safer, more efficient solid-state batteries, paving the way for their broader use in next-generation electronic devices and vehicles.

Coordinating intricate interactive systems—whether it's managing city transportation or synchronizing components in advanced robotics—is a growing challenge for software designers. Now, researchers at MIT have introduced a groundbreaking method that simplifies these complex problems, using basic diagrams to uncover more efficient software optimization strategies for deep-learning models. According to the researchers, this new method is so intuitive that the solutions can be sketched on the back of a napkin. The work, described in a paper published in the Transactions of Machine Learning Research, was carried out by incoming doctoral student Vincent Abbott and Professor Gioele Zardini from MIT’s Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS). "We developed a new language to describe these modern systems," Zardini explained. The new approach is rooted in category theory, a branch of mathematics that focuses on abstracting and connecting different systems. The method aims at designing the core architecture of computer algorithms—the programs responsible for sensing, controlling, and optimizing the many parts of a complex system. These algorithms must exchange information while considering factors like energy consumption and memory usage. Optimizing such systems is notoriously difficult because changes to one part often ripple through others, creating an intricate web of interactions. Focusing on deep-learning algorithms, the researchers tackled one of today's most dynamic research fields. Deep learning powers large models like ChatGPT and image generators like Midjourney, using layers of matrix multiplications interspersed with other operations. These models, which rely on billions of parameters updated during training, demand massive computational resources, making optimization critical. The diagrams developed by the MIT team can represent detailed aspects of the parallel operations in deep-learning models, including their interaction with GPU hardware from companies like NVIDIA. "I'm very excited about this," said Zardini. "We seem to have found a language that captures deep learning algorithms in a way that explicitly represents crucial factors like the operators used, energy consumption, and memory allocation." He noted that much progress in deep learning has come from improving resource efficiency. Models like DeepSeek have shown that small teams can challenge giants like OpenAI by optimizing the relationship between software and hardware. Traditionally, achieving these improvements has required extensive trial and error. For instance, the optimization program FlashAttention took over four years to develop. With their new graphical framework, the MIT researchers believe such advancements could be achieved systematically rather than through prolonged experimentation. https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=236 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=237 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=238 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=239 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=240 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=241 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=242 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=243 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=244 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=245 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=246 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=247 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=248 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=249 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=250 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=251 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=252 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=253 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=254 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=255 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=256 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=257 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=258 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=259 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=260 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=261 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=262 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=263 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=264 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=265 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=266 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=267 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=268 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=269 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=270 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=271 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=272 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=273 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=274 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=275 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=279 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=280 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=281 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=282 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=283 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=284 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=285 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=286 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=287 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=288 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=289 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=290 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=291 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=292 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=293 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=294 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=295 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=296 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=297 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=298 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=299 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=300 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=301 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=302 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=303 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=304 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=305 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=306 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=307 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=308 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=309 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=310 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=311 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=312 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=313 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=314 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=315 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=316 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=317 https://www.kumander.org/viewtopic.php?t=318 Until now, methods for optimizing deep-learning systems have been limited. "This shows a major gap," said Zardini. "We didn’t have a formal method to relate an algorithm to its optimal execution or estimate its resource usage precisely. Now we do, through this diagram-based system." Their method leverages category theory to abstractly describe the components of a system and their interactions. It connects different perspectives, linking mathematical formulas, algorithms, and resource usage in a coherent visual structure called "monoidal string diagrams." The diagrams allow researchers to visually experiment with different system architectures, making complex interactions easier to understand and optimize. Zardini describes the result as "string diagrams on steroids," incorporating richer graphical conventions and properties. "Category theory can be thought of as the mathematics of abstraction and composition," Abbott explained. "Any compositional system can be described using category theory, allowing relationships between different systems to be studied." By visually relating algebraic rules to functions, the approach creates a powerful correspondence between diagrams, algorithms, and system performance, opening a new pathway for more efficient and systematic design of complex computational systems.