SBIR Phase II: Enabling Better Grid-Scale Energy Storage with Organic Additives

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是提供一种更经济、可扩展和可持续的电池类型，用于存储支持美国不断增长的可再生电网所需的能量。随着越来越多的风能和太阳能发电被安装，人们对经济形式的储能的需求越来越大，以便在无风和无阳光的时候供电。由于供应、安全、寿命和可持续性方面的问题，锂离子和铅酸电池等较老的技术不适合用于这一目的。该项目寻求生产新的化学成分，以实现基于可回收锌金属的网格级电池，这提供了一种更安全、更可持续的替代网格级电池选择。此外，由于锌及其其他电池组件来自美国，该项目可能有助于促进国内电池制造，减少对外国电池供应的依赖。SBIR二期项目建议生产化学添加剂，使锌溴电池寿命更长、保持更多能量、更高效地运行，从而为可再生能源提供可持续的低成本储能。目前，这些类型的电池的主要问题与电池充电过程中发生的不必要的电化学副反应有关。该项目将使用稳定、可扩展的有机电解液添加剂消除这些副反应，旨在防止锌表面出现问题。在项目的这一阶段，将对这些电解液添加剂进行修改和优化，以提高性能和可扩展性。电池制造商将通过在实际电池和全尺寸电池中进行测试来评估它们。到项目结束时，新的支持电解液可能会大量供应，以帮助建立安全、可持续的、国产的锌溴电池。这一奖项反映了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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will be to provide a more economical, scalable, and sustainable type of battery for storing the energy needed to support America’s growing renewable power grid. As more wind and solar power generation is being installed, there is a growing need for economical forms of energy storage to supply power during windless and sunless times. Older technologies like lithium ion and lead acid batteries are not ideal for this purpose due to problems with supply, safety, longevity, and sustainability. This project seeks to produce new chemical components to enable grid-scale batteries based on recyclable zinc metal, which offers a safer and more sustainable alternative grid-scale battery option. Furthermore, since zinc and its other battery components are sourced in the US, this project may help facilitate domestic battery manufacturing and reduce dependence on foreign battery supplies.This SBIR Phase II project proposes to produce chemical additives that make zinc-bromine batteries last longer, hold more energy, and run more efficiently so that they can provide sustainable low-cost energy storage for renewable power. Presently, the major problems with these types of batteries are related to unwanted electrochemical side reactions that happen during battery charging. This project will eliminate these side reactions with stable, scalable, organic electrolyte additives designed to prevent problems at the zinc surface. During this phase of the project, these electrolyte addititives will be modified and optimized for performance and scalability. They will be evaluated via testing in actual cells and full-size batteries by the battery manufacturers. By the end of the project, new class of enabling electrolyte may be available in large quantities to help establish safe, sustainable, domestically made zinc-bromine batteries.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.