European Industrial Doctorate in Innovative POLYmers for Lithium Battery TEchnologies

Project Information

POLYTE

Grant agreement ID: 765828

DOI

10.3030/765828

Project closed

EC signature date 2 August 2017

Start date 1 January 2018

End date 31 December 2021

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 743 618,88

EU contribution

€ 743 618,88

Coordinated by

UNIVERSIDAD DEL PAIS VASCO/ EUSKAL HERRIKO UNIBERTSITATEA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - POLYTE (European Industrial Doctorate in Innovative POLYmers for Lithium Battery TEchnologies)

Reporting period: 2020-01-01 to 2021-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

POLYTE-EID was an Industrial Doctorate Project funded by the Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions (H2020-MSCA-ITN-EID-2017) that aimed to offer excellent training opportunities to three Early Stage Researchers (ESR) in the area of Innovative Polymers for Lithium Battery Technologies.
POLYTE-EID put together the expertise in batteries of Toyota Motor Europe (TME, Belgium) with the academic excellence in polymers of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU - POLYMAT, Spain).
Three ESRs have been trained in multidisciplinary aspects of research and training expertise areas; including polymer chemistry, ionic liquids, polymer physics, advanced characterization methods, electrochemistry and electrochemical energy storage technologies, such as lithium metal, lithium-ion or lithium-air battery technologies.
The overall objective of the project was the development of new polymeric materials to increase the performance and safety of the current and future batteries.
Overall, the three ESRs have been able to successfully carry out their PhDs and greatly enhance their career perspectives. Within their research projects, four all-solid lithium metal battery prototypes were developed; two lithium-ion batteries were evaluated exceeding the performance of current standards; new organic batteries were proposed; and up to 3 new types of Li-O2 cell prototypes were proposed. The result of this work translated in 11 scientific publications in top journals and 3 patent applications.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Within this project, novel polymers for the development of lithium solid-state batteries have been designed and characterized by different electrochemical, mechanical and spectroscopic techniques. Results are very promising and they show encouraging performance in different type of battery cells (lithium metal, lithium-ion, organic batteries and Li-O2 batteries).
The project has also carried out a number of dissemination activities which included the organization of a workshop, training events, the participation of the fellows in outreach activities and the set-up of a project webpage. The efforts put on the technical development of this project translated in 11 scientific publications in top journals and 3 patent applications.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The overall progress of the project has been in line with the initial objectives of developing greener, cheaper and safer rechargeable lithium batteries for electric/hybrid vehicles for the automotive industry. A broad range of polymers to be processed and assembled into electrochemical energy storage devices have been developed. Furthermore, some of them showed superior performance in some battery prototypes (e.g. lithium ion technologies).

One of the key impacts of the POLYTE-EID project has been to enhance the career perspectives and employability of three ESR researchers and contribute to their skills development. To accomplish this, the ESRs have been exposed to both academic and industrial environments during the course of the project. In addition, they have attended several training and dedicated schools and international conferences where they have shown the main achievements accomplished and the main societal implications of the project.

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