Collaborative Research: Production of Solar Quality Silicon by Model-Driven Molten Salt Electrolysis

合作研究：通过模型驱动熔盐电解生产太阳能级硅

• 批准号: 1937829
• 负责人: Uday Pal
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Trustees of Boston University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1937829&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Production; Solar; Quality

Silicon is the dominant solar material because of its abundance, low cost, and high solar efficiency. But manufacturing high-purity silicon required for solar energy is very complex, hard to scale, and unsafe since it involves handling toxic flammable gases. This award lays the scientific foundations for a new solar silicon production technology based on molten salt electrolysis. This process uses high purity quartzite or silica as its raw material. By this method, the production cost of solar silicon is expected to fall from $10 per kg today to just $1-2 per kg. The new silicon process uses significantly less energy than current practice and eliminates all direct CO₂ and related emissions. These advances in solar energy production technology contribute to the economic competitiveness of the U.S. solar industry. The fundamental knowledge gained in this research can be used to devise similar novel environmentally sound and efficient production methods for high-melting refractory metals, as well as silicon carbide and other semiconducting materials. The project’s impact is also further broadened through published model data and code, educational modules developed from the research results, and student training in a collaborative and multidisciplinary environment which includes both computational and experimental work.This project establishes four integrated mathematical models of the process based on new experimental data which help in the understanding of silicon molten salt electrolysis and its scale-up. The first molten salt structure (MSS) model involves spectroscopic analysis coupled with atomistic models to understand the molecular structure of complex ions in the five-component molten salt. The second CALculation of PHAse Diagrams (CALPHAD) model to understand and predict thermodynamic and thermophysical properties of the molten salt including silica solubility, silicon compound volatility and ion mobility. These properties are experimentally validated and used in a third transport model to study the reaction and diffusion kinetics of silicon electrodeposition at the cathode-electrolyte interface to predict deposit structure and composition. A fourth phase field model uses these molten salt properties to study the transport of silicon to the cathode and oxygen to the anode to understand boundary layer structure and improve the deposition rate. Using these models, a new current wave-form switching system is developed to maintain stable dendrite-free silicon growth at high current density. The new low-cost single operation silicon molten salt electrolysis replaces multiple energy-intensive unit operations of carbothermic silicon production, acid digestion, trichlorosilane synthesis, distillation, and chemical vapor deposition used in the current Siemens process.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

硅是占主导地位的太阳能材料，因为它的储量丰富，成本低，太阳能效率高。但制造太阳能所需的高纯度硅非常复杂，很难规模化，而且不安全，因为它涉及处理有毒的易燃气体。该奖项为基于熔盐电解的新型太阳能硅生产技术奠定了科学基础。该工艺以高纯石英岩或二氧化硅为原料。通过这种方法，太阳能硅的生产成本预计将从目前的每公斤10美元降至每公斤1-2美元。新的硅工艺比目前的工艺消耗的能源要少得多，并消除了所有直接的CO、₂和相关排放。太阳能生产技术的这些进步有助于提高美国太阳能产业的经济竞争力。在这项研究中获得的基础知识可以用来设计类似的对环境无害的、高效的高熔点难熔金属以及碳化硅和其他半导体材料的生产方法。该项目还通过发布模型数据和代码、根据研究结果开发教育模块以及在包括计算和实验工作在内的多学科协作环境中对学生进行培训，进一步扩大了该项目的影响。该项目基于新的实验数据建立了该过程的四个完整的数学模型，有助于理解硅熔盐电解及其放大。第一个熔盐结构(MSS)模型包括光谱分析和原子模型，以了解五组分熔盐中络合离子的分子结构。第二种计算相图(CALPHAD)模型，用于了解和预测熔盐的热力学和热物理性质，包括二氧化硅的溶解度、硅化合物的挥发度和离子的迁移率。实验验证了这些性质，并将其用于第三个输运模型，以研究硅电沉积在阴极-电解液界面的反应和扩散动力学，以预测沉积结构和成分。第四相场模型利用这些熔盐性质来研究硅到阴极和氧到阳极的传输，以了解边界层结构和提高沉积速度。利用这些模型，开发了一种新的电流波形开关系统，以在高电流密度下保持稳定的无枝晶硅生长。新的低成本单操作硅熔盐电解法取代了当前西门子工艺中使用的碳热硅生产、酸消化、三氯硅烷合成、蒸馏和化学气相沉积等多种能源密集型单元操作。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Finite Element Analysis and Techno-economic Modeling of Solar Silicon Molten Salt Electrolysis

太阳能硅熔盐电解的有限元分析与技术经济模型

• DOI: 10.1007/s11837-020-04468-y
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: JOM
• 影响因子: 2.6
• 作者: Moudgal, Aditya;Buasai, Sarat;Wu, Yi Jie;McMahon, Alexander;Hazerjian, Jacob M.;Luu, Vicky;Ly, Ariana;Asadikiya, Mohammad;Powell, Adam;Pal, Uday
• 通讯作者: Pal, Uday

X-ray and molecular dynamics study of the temperature-dependent structure of FLiNaK

FLiNaK 温度依赖性结构的 X 射线和分子动力学研究

• DOI: 10.1016/j.nme.2023.101530
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Nuclear Materials and Energy
• 影响因子: 2.6
• 作者: Guo, Jicheng;Zhang, Yifan;Ludwig, Karl;Yan, Haoxuan;Levy, Alexander;Wadehra, Anubhav;Gao, Michael C.;Benmore, Chris;Rose, Melissa;Condon, Nicholas
• 通讯作者: Condon, Nicholas

Solid Oxide Membrane (SOM)-Based Technology for Carbon-Free Efficient Production of Solar-Grade Silicon

基于固体氧化物膜 (SOM) 的太阳能级硅无碳高效生产技术

• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: REWAS 2022: Developing Tomorrow’s Technical Cycles (Volume I
• 作者: Haoxuan Yan;Michelle Sugimoto;Adam Powell;Uday Pal
• 通讯作者: Uday Pal