Descripción del proyecto
Nuevos electrolitos de estado sólido para baterías de sodio-aire
Las baterías de sodio-aire se están posicionando como una alternativa factible a la tecnología de iones de litio. El sodio es más abundante que el litio y, por tanto, más barato. Además, los cátodos porosos de aire, más livianos, pueden alcanzar mayores densidades de energía. Con todo, los electrolitos convencionales empleados en las baterías de iones de litio son más inestables, lo que a la larga provoca fallos en estas baterías. Es más, dado que los electrolitos son líquidos, pueden salir del interior de la batería y entrar en contacto con el aire o el agua. En el proyecto OXBLOLYTE, financiado por las Acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, se resolverán estos problemas mediante el desarrollo de nuevos electrolitos de estado sólido. Los electrolitos propuestos se basarán en un grupo único de materiales microporosos —polímeros de microporosidad intrínseca— y cristales plásticos iónicos orgánicos conductores.
Objetivo
The EU’s notion to become climate neutral in 2050, as per the EU Green Deal, strives to transform the economy through advancements in clean renewable energy. While rechargeable Li-ion batteries sustain the current market for energy storage, they cannot continue to achieve the transformative scale of improvement required due to the finite supply of lithium, and their limited energy storage capacities, among others. Sodium-air batteries (NaBs) provide an attractive alternative due to the abundance of sodium – thus low cost – and their lightweight porous air cathodes to reach greater energy densities. Today’s traditional electrolytes are unstable towards Na metal and radical species generated during cycling, allowing oxygen crossover to the anode, which results in battery failure. Moreover, their liquid nature leads to evaporation and leakage issues. OXBLOLYTE Postdoctoral Fellowship will overcome these challenges by developing novel solid-state electrolytes based on Polymer of Intrinsic Microporosity membranes combined with conducting Organic Ionic Plastic Crystal materials. In parallel to these practical concerns, OXBLOLYTE will unravel mechanistic understanding of solid-state NaBs– a field currently unexplored - to allow the correct choice of electrolyte.
The research fellow, Dr. Yahia (with expertise in polymer membranes), will conduct the OXBLOLYTE project at CIC energiGUNE (Spain) with the host supervisor, Dr. Ortiz-Vitoriano (pioneer in the relevant research field) which includes mechanical property studies under the supervisor of Dr. Sardon (with expertise in polymers) at Polymat (Spain). OXBLOLYTE facilitates the transfer of 3 I’s knowledge whilst diversifying Dr. Yahia’s networks and leadership skills to further advance his career perspectives and employability. As a result, OXBLOBLYTE will lead to research outputs that will be disseminated to the general public, scientific community and industry with the final aim to enlarge its exploitation potential.
Ámbito científico
- natural scienceschemical scienceselectrochemistryelectric batteries
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energy
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistryalkali metals
- natural scienceschemical sciencespolymer sciences
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicssustainable economy
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
MSCA-PF - MSCA-PFCoordinador
01510 Minano Alava
España