Project description
Solutions to improve lithium battery cycle life
Growing renewable energy use, the green transition, and rising electric vehicle adoption have made energy storage increasingly vital. Lithium metal batteries (LMBs) offer higher energy density than conventional lithium-ion batteries but face challenges from lithium dendrite growth, which causes early device failure. Polymeric solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) can help reduce dendrite formation, but inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) within them tend to agglomerate, causing problems. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the POLY-VOLT project will develop a solution to suppress NP agglomeration and reduce polymer crystallinity, minimising these drawbacks while maximising SSE performance. The project will graft polymer chains onto inorganic surfaces to create polymer-grafted nanoparticles that achieve these effects.
Objective
Lithium metal batteries (LMBs) are the most prominent, higher-energy alternative to conventional Li ion batteries, but face commercialization problems primarily associated to the growth of Li dendrites, which causes premature device failure. A promising approach to mitigate dendritic growth involves the deployment of polymeric solid-state electrolytes (SSEs). In these systems, inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) are often dispersed within polymer matrixes to improve mechanical properties and reduce crystallinity, thus increasing ionic conductivity. However, NPs tend to agglomerate, creating heterogeneities that decrease performance and promote dendritic growth.
In POLY-VOLT, polymer chains will be covalently grafted onto inorganic surfaces forming polymer-grafted nanoparticles (PGNs) where polymer crystallinity and NP agglomeration are simultaneously suppressed, maximizing the advantages of combining polymer and inorganic fillers in SSEs. Additionally, PGNs present the unique advantage of fully tailorable structural parameters, such as the density of grafted polymer chains and their molar masses. Thus, these parameters will be finely tuned to form a library of PGN SSEs and comprehensively dissect the effect of structural features on conformation, segmental motion, Li ion transport, and mechanical strength. These properties will then be correlated to cycling stability and dendritic growth in LMBs. The library will comprise polymer grafts containing ethylene oxide and/or ethylene imine units. Indeed, the distinct architecture of PGNs will enable to overcome the crystallinity issue that limit the use of poly(ethylene imine)s in SSEs, thus exploiting the high coordination ability of N atoms, opening new avenues for N-rich electrolytes.
POLY-VOLT will therefore considerably advance the field of SSEs, accelerating the development of reliable LMBs and the transition to greener technologies, responding to the urgent demands of the EU Green Deal.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry alkali metals
- natural sciences chemical sciences polymer sciences
- engineering and technology nanotechnology nano-materials
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry aliphatic compounds
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
35122 PADOVA
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.