Project description
Revolutionising electrically rechargeable Zing-Air battery and improved storage
Energy storage and battery solutions play a crucial role in developing and implementing innovative renewable energy solutions essential for achieving climate neutrality and reducing energy costs. However, the majority of current battery solutions employ toxic or flammable materials, have low storage times and often rely on large amounts of critical raw materials, resulting in high costs and inefficiency. The EU-funded HIPERZAB project seeks to address these challenges by developing a revolutionary electrically rechargeable Zing-Air battery with improved cyclability, lower costs and extended storage times. This battery is designed for use with renewables or even electrolysers. The project focuses on sustainability and circularity in its development of several novel components.
Objective
Energy storage is critical for the EU energy system to reach a large renewable energy share, climate neutrality, and affordable energy costs. Currently available energy storage solutions suffer from limited storage time, the use of toxic/flammable components, large amounts of critical raw materials (CRMs), and high costs that limit their large market deployment. Metal-air batteries present several advantages like cheap and abundant active materials (e.g. zinc + air), and high gravimetric energy density together with long-term stability; but, even in its more mature configuration, they cannot guarantee storage times > 4-12 h, and the present mechanical recharging concepts drastically increase operation and maintenance costs. HIPERZAB will design and validate at lab scale, for the first time ever, an Electrically Rechargeable Zinc-Air Battery (ERZAB) to enable breakthroughs in cyclability, storage time, costs, and life cycle design ideal for mid-term storage (days/weeks) to be coupled with renewables and electrolysers. To reach this goal, HIPERZAB will develop three innovative components: (i) a 3D porous Zn/biopolymer composite anode, (ii) an eco-friendly bilayer gel electrolyte based on naturally occurring precursors, and (iii) a CRM-free cathode based on high entropy oxides (HEOs). These components will be integrated into a single device proposing a radically new battery design that enables the water/air management control during cycling and the durability/performance of materials and components. To shed light into the research challenges, HIPERZAB will further focus on unraveling the correlations between materials, operating conditions, and electrochemical phenomena upon cycling through operando characterisations and multiscale modelling. HIPERZAB's developments will be continuously guided by life cycle and circular economy approaches to ensure sustainable end-of-life options.m
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-EIC - HORIZON EIC GrantsCoordinator
01510 Minano Alava
Spain