EAGER: Collaborative Research: Shear Dependent Reaction Kinetics in Particulate Electrochemical Energy Storage

锂离子电池被认为是便携式电子产品、新兴绿色技术和电动汽车的卓越存储设备。然而，用于提高电极材料的电子和离子电导率的添加剂占电池体积的约1/3，从而破坏了电池的能量和功率密度，并损害了系统的循环寿命。另一方面，氧化还原液流电池在其放大灵活性方面显示出巨大的优势，但其能量密度受到金属离子氧化还原对在液体溶剂中的溶解度的限制。最近，已经提出了使离子存储半固体电活性材料流入和流出电池组件以产生高能量和功率密度氧化还原液流电池的新概念。实现这一新概念的巨大潜力，需要一个基本的理解的影响，移动电极颗粒和流动的电解质离子/电荷传输以及充电/放电动力学相比，在静态电池配置。 该合作项目汇集了专门从事电化学储能系统的Steingart博士和复杂流体物理学的Sun博士，整合了流变学，反应化学，材料加工和电池性能方面的专业知识，以实现半固体液流电池概念。该EAGER项目的目标是通过集成建模和实验，创建一种用于表征和预测大质量分数流动浆料电极的电化学-机械耦合行为的基线方法。智力优势在半固态液流电池配置中，正极和/或负极浆料通常是非牛顿的，其稳定性极具挑战性。 使用光学透明的流动池和速率剪切粘度计，粒子间的填充和流动对电导率和反应速率的影响直接确定。通过与整体反应实验并行运行电导率实验，PI可以解耦电导率。 通过我们的颗粒传输机制解析的电化学耦合模型提供的见解，PI将能够理解半固态电极流动系统中流动、粘度、离子电导率、电导率、颗粒尺寸、颗粒尺寸分布和电极动力学的耦合行为。更广泛的影响开发更具成本效益、持久、高能量/功率密度电池解决方案是迈向国家电气化的关键一步？的个人交通和更稳定和有效的电网。半固体液流电池能够实现高能量密度存储，同时消除了反应材料的寿命问题。 该项目在普林斯顿大学和德雷克塞尔大学的化学和机械工程师之间建立了一个新的令人兴奋的合作，以实现高效，可靠的液流电池。研究生和本科生都将受益于拟议项目的跨学科性质。

Lithium-ion batteries are considered the pre-eminent storage device for portable electronics, emerging green technologies, and electric vehicles. However, additives that are used to boost electronic and ionic conductivities of the electrode materials comprise about 1/3 of the battery volume, undermining both energy and power density of the cell, as well as impairing the cycle life of the system. Redox flow batteries on the other hand have shown great advantages on their scale-up flexibility, but their energy density is limited by the solubility of metal ion redox couples in liquid solvents. Recently, a new concept of flowing ion-storing semi-solid electroactive materials into and from a battery assembly to create a high energy and power density redox flow battery has been proposed. Realizing the tremendous potential of this new concept requires a fundamental understanding of the effects of moving electrode particles and flowing electrolytes on ion/charge transport as well as charging/discharging kinetics compared with those in static battery configurations. This collaborative project brings together Dr. Steingart specializing on electrochemical energy storage systems and Dr. Sun on complex fluids physics, integrating expertise on rheology, reaction chemistry, materials processing, and battery performance for the realization of semi- solid flow battery concept. The objective of this EAGER project is to create a baseline methodology for characterizing and predicting the electrochemical-mechanical coupling behavior of large mass fraction flowing slurry electrodes through integrated modeling and experiments.Intellectual MeritIn the semi-solid flow battery configuration, positive and/or negative electrode slurries are usually non- Newtonian and their stability is extremely challenging. Using an optically transparent flow cell and rate shear viscometry, the effect of interpacticle packing and flow on conductivity, and reaction rate are directly determined. By running conductivity experiments in parallel with overall reaction experiments, the PIs can decouple the electrical conductivity. Through the insights provided by our particle transport mechanism-resolved, electrochemistry-coupled model, PIs will be able to understand the coupled behavior of flow, viscosity, ionic conductivity, electrical conductivity, particle size, particle size distribution and electrode kinetics in semi-solid electrode flow systems.Broader ImpactsThe development of more cost-effective, long lasting, and high energy/power-density battery solution is a crucial step toward the electrification of the nation?s personal transportation and more stable and efficient electrical grids. Semi-solid flow batteries enable high energy density storage while removing lifetime concerns from the reacting material. This project builds a new exciting collaboration between chemical and mechanical engineers at Princeton and Drexel to enable efficient, reliable flow batteries. Both graduate and undergraduate students will benefit from the interdisciplinary nature of the proposed project.