SBIR Phase I: Nanostructured Ceramics Membranes for Redox Flow Batteries with Superior Performance and Low Cost

SBIR第一阶段：用于氧化还原液流电池的纳米结构陶瓷膜，具有卓越的性能和低成本

• 批准号: 1648517
• 负责人: Gregory Newbloom
• 金额: $ 22.5万
• 依托单位: Membrion, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-12-01 至 2017-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1648517&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Nanostructured; Ceramics; Membranes

This SBIR Phase I project seeks to develop a novel low-cost molecular filter for use in harsh environments. This is accomplished using commodity silica gel, commonly found as a desiccant in food packing, whose pores can be made to be only a few molecules wide. Accurate tuning of the size and shape of the silica gel pores enables certain molecules to pass through while others are block from passing. One promising application for these molecular filters is their use in grid-scale energy storage. Flow batteries have the ability to store city-sized quantities of renewable energy. However, they require the use of expensive molecular filters that are not easily replaced due to the harsh battery environments. The low-cost filters developed during this SBIR Phase I project have the potential to reduce the cost of flow batteries by as much as 30%. Lower cost grid-scale storage means that more renewable energy generation (e.g., solar & wind) can be added without overwhelming the grid. Low cost molecular filter also have commercial upside with the potential to capture a $1.3 billion dollar market. Because of this, this project is expected to generate nearly 20 jobs and $79 million dollars in tax revenue over the next 5 years.This SBIR Phase 1 Project is developing a molecularly selective sol-gel ceramic membrane that does not require calcination or high polymer loading but also does not fracture during compression in stack applications (e.g., fuel cells and flow batteries). This is accomplished by decoupling the selective region from the region of the membrane being compresses by the stack. These membranes will be utilized to improve the performance and reduce the costs of all-vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB). These membranes require selective transport of hydronium ions but not vanadium ions. Size exclusion membranes must therefore have tight control over the pore size and size distribution, shape and network structure in order to selectively transport ions. Towards this end, sol-gel processing and surface chemistry modification will be utilized to maximize proton conductivity and limit vanadium ion permeability. Optimized membrane formulations must also have excellent chemical and mechanical stability; showing no degradation after hundreds of VRFB cycles. Finally, membranes must be scaled from lab size (1 cm2) to commercial size (630 cm2) while maintaining performance uniformity. The low-cost membranes developed during this SBIR Phase I project have the potential to reduce the cost of VRFBs by as much as 30%. Lower cost grid-scale storage means that more renewable energy generation (e.g., solar & wind) can be added without overwhelming the grid.

SBIR第一阶段项目旨在开发一种用于恶劣环境的新型低成本分子过滤器。这是使用商品硅胶来实现的，商品硅胶通常用作食品包装中的干燥剂，其孔可以制成只有几个分子宽。精确调整硅胶孔的大小和形状，使某些分子能够通过，而其他分子则无法通过。这些分子过滤器的一个有前途的应用是它们在网格规模的能量存储中的使用。液流电池能够储存城市规模的可再生能源。然而，它们需要使用昂贵的分子过滤器，由于电池环境恶劣，这些过滤器不容易更换。在SBIR第一阶段项目中开发的低成本过滤器有可能将液流电池的成本降低30%。更低成本的电网规模存储意味着更多的可再生能源发电（例如，太阳风）可以被添加而不会压倒电网。低成本分子过滤器也具有商业上的优势，有可能占据13亿美元的市场。正因为如此，该项目预计将在未来5年内创造近20个就业机会和7900万美元的税收收入。SBIR第1阶段项目正在开发一种分子选择性溶胶-凝胶陶瓷膜，该膜不需要煅烧或高聚合物负载，但在堆叠应用中的压缩过程中也不会破裂（例如，燃料电池和液流电池）。这是通过将选择性区域与膜的被堆叠压缩的区域分离来实现的。这些膜将被用来提高全钒氧化还原液流电池（VRFB）的性能和降低成本。这些膜需要水合氢离子而不是钒离子的选择性传输。因此，尺寸排阻膜必须严格控制孔径和尺寸分布、形状和网络结构，以便选择性地传输离子。为此，溶胶-凝胶处理和表面化学改性将被用来最大限度地提高质子传导性和限制钒离子渗透性。优化的膜配方还必须具有优异的化学和机械稳定性;在数百次VRFB循环后不会出现降解。最后，膜必须从实验室尺寸（1 cm 2）扩展到商业尺寸（630 cm 2），同时保持性能均匀性。在SBIR第一阶段项目中开发的低成本膜有可能将VRFB的成本降低30%。更低成本的电网规模存储意味着更多的可再生能源发电（例如，太阳风）可以被添加而不会压倒电网。