CAS-Climate: Understanding the fundamental redox chemistry and transport of chloroaluminate anions in ionic liquid electrolytes to develop earth-abundant aluminum ion battery

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Rechargeable batteries are powering the rise in plug-in electric vehicles and intermittent renewable energy storage/transport/utilization in the electric grid. With double-digit annual growth expected over the next decade for production and sales of electric vehicles, cost of materials, resource availability, and supply chain will become increasingly critical factors in novel and sustainable battery technologies. In this regard, aluminum ion batteries hold great promise for large-scale energy storage applications based on their fast-charging capability, earth-abundant resources, and lower cost of raw materials. The overall objective of this project is to 1) develop novel chloroaluminate ionic liquid electrolytes with low-viscosity and highly conductive additives, and 2) elucidate microscopic conversion chemistry, transport, charge storage mechanism, and stability challenges of chloroaluminate anions in aluminum ion batteries. Such knowledge is critical to enhance the commercialization potential of earth-abundant, safer, and long-life aluminum ion batteries. This project strives to increase participation of underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students in science and engineering research in rural west Alabama. The educational benefits of the project include graduate and undergraduate researcher training in electroanalytical chemistry, materials science, battery science and engineering, microfabrication, and cell design.The project’s aim is to systematically explore the effects of ionic liquid electrolyte compositions and surface engineered graphene foam electrodes on the chloroaluminate anions adsorption, conversion, intercalation, and mass transport, which will provide a fundamental understanding of effective conversion and intercalation/deintercalation chemistry of chloroaluminate anions species in aluminum ion batteries. New insights, including quantitative molecular or atomic-level structural, chemical, spectroscopic, and electrochemical characterizations, into graphene/ionic liquid electrolyte interfacial structures will provide powerful practical strategies to promote or suppress various kinds of interface phenomena. The outcome and knowledge gained from such studies will guide the design and fabrication of novel ionic liquid electrolytes and graphene-based electrodes for superior energy storage density and cycling performance of aluminum ion batteries. Such knowledge is critically needed for designing long-life electrolytes/electrodes and low-cost energy storage systems.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.