Energy Storage Electrode Manufacturing (ELEMENT)

这个EPSRC第一笔拨款项目将专注于使用所谓的“电泳沉积（EPD）”来制造具有空间分布特性的储能电极；为了进一步提高电化学动力器件的性能。该研究旨在实现充分利用产能，同时满足所有相关的电力提取。这将通过开发新的电极设计，以有意义的规模制造它们，微观结构表征和能量存储测量来实现。以这种方式构建的电极将比传统的单片设计更合理地满足其能量存储功能。虽然材料化学的深入研究超出了这个以制造为中心的项目的范围，但该研究将在锂离子电池的背景下进行涉及Nb2O5和C的示范实验。改进后的电极将在英国WMG能源创新中心的非商业环境中，在英国首个完整的电池原型生产线上进行设计、制造和验证。具体来说，该项目直接挑战了现有的制造模式，即电极设计是由过时的制造考虑因素驱动的，例如粉末基粘性浆料的铸造和压延。现有的技术，显然是可扩展的和强大的，主导着今天的电池和超级电容器设备的电极制造。但是，这种制造方法极大地限制了设备电池级的“可用”能量密度（Wh/kg）和“可用”容量（Ah），并产生了不希望出现的粘性循环。这是因为高比例活性材料的压延粉基电极导致孔隙网络具有高扭曲度，填充了不需要的非活性材料，如聚合物粘合剂和电导率增强剂炭黑颗粒。在这种情况下，电极必须很薄才能获得高速率。但是，薄电极导致高比例的非活性材料；这就降低了可达到的最大“可用”能量密度和“可用”容量。因此，现实世界的需求仍然是扩大我们对实现高密度活性材料电极的知识，同时具有低孔隙弯曲度和足够的导电性，但受苛刻的制造要求和工程限制的影响较小。拟议的EPD方法是足够通用的，它可以应用于任何储能材料及其化学物质，并且开发的工具，过程和方法在规模上是通用的，可以直接相关于任何现有的锂离子电池的系统优化，超越锂离子化学（例如，钠离子，镁离子）和更高能量密度的电化学电容器（基于金属氧化物）。简而言之，该项目将探索一个新的方向：通过现代电化学制造方法设计“具有空间分布特性的高密度活性材料电极”所带来的科学挑战和技术机遇。该项目的成果预计将影响对带电材料和电场相互作用的科学理解，并将为未来的能量存储创造改进的电极设计。

This EPSRC First Grant project will concentrate on the use of so-called 'Electrophoretic Deposition (EPD)' to manufacture energy storage electrodes with spatially distributed properties; in order to further advance the performance of electrochemical power devices. The research is aimed at realising a full capacity utilisation while meeting all relevant power extractions. This will be achieved by developing new electrode designs, manufacture them at a meaningful scale, microstructural characterisation and energy storage measurement. Electrodes built in this way will have their energy storage functions met more rationally than conventional monolithic design. Whilst in-depth investigation of materials chemistry is beyond the scope of this manufacturing centred project, the research will perform exemplary experiments involving Nb2O5 and C, in Li-ion battery context. The improved electrodes will be designed, manufactured and validated in the UK's first full battery prototyping lines in a non-commercial environment at the WMG Energy Innovation Centre. Specifically, this project directly challenges the existing manufacturing paradigm in which electrode designs are driven by outdated manufacturing considerations, such as the casting and calendaring of powder-based viscous slurry. The existing technologies, which are clearly scalable and robust, dominate today's electrode manufacturing for batteries and supercapacitors devices. But, the manufacturing approach greatly limit the 'usable' energy density (Wh/kg) and 'usable' capacity (Ah) at device cell level and creates an undesirable viscous circle. This is because calendaring powder-based electrodes for high fraction of active materials results in pore networks with high tortuosity, filled with undesirable quantity of inactive materials such as polymeric binders and electrical conductivity enhancer carbon black particles. In this context, the electrodes must then be thin for high rate. But, thin electrodes result in high fraction of inactive materials; which consequently lowers the maximum achievable 'usable' energy density and 'usable' capacity. A real-world need therefore persists to expand our knowledge about realising high density active material electrodes, whilst having low pore tortuosity and of adequate electrical conductivity, but is less affected by the demanding manufacturing requirements and engineering constraints.The proposed EPD approach is sufficiently generic that it can be applied for any energy storage materials and their chemistries, and the developed tools, processes and methodologies are common across scale can be of direct relevance for systematic optimisation of any existing Li-ion batteries, beyond Li-ion chemistries (e.g., Na-ion, Mg-ion) and higher energy density electrochemical capacitors (based on metal oxides).In short, this project will explore a new direction: the scientific challenges and technological opportunities enabled by the design of 'high density active material electrodes of spatially distributed properties' through modern approaches in electrochemical manufacturing. The project outcomes are expected to impact scientific understandings of how charged materials and electric field interact, and will create improved electrode designs for future energy storage.