EAS VIII: Avetik Haryutunyan and Lithium Storage Capacity in Large Nanostructures

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Although “large nanostructures” may sound like the same kind of oxymoron as “jumbo shrimp,” such things are relative even at the smallest of scales.  Dr. Avetik Haryutunyan, Chief Scientist in the Materials Science Division of Honda Motors in Columbus, Ohio, shared a small part of the knowledge contained in his numerous publications and patents with the audience at the eighth annual Electric Aircraft Symposium last April.  He reviewed experimental approaches to creating high lithium storage in carbon nanostructures, with the ideal of providing scientists and commercial developers usable materials and products. He reviewed the many experimental approaches to enhancing energy storage with lithium, attempting to achieve reproducibility and irreversibility, two touchstones of scientific validation. Dr. Haryutunyan explained that with 14 Terawatts of energy consumption in the United States today and an anticipated requirement for 30 to 60 terawatts by 2050, we would have to build one or two nuclear plants every day for the next several decades to meet the …