ICSF Wave 1: GENESIS: Garnet Electrolytes for New Energy Storage Integrated Solutions

便携式电子产品的繁荣是由锂离子电池技术的进步推动的，这是在Goodenough及其同事对锂钴氧化物阴极材料的初步研究之后。在含磷酸盐的阴极方面的其他显著进步已经将锂离子电池的应用扩展到更高充电/放电速率的应用，例如电动工具和运输。由于混合动力和全电动汽车的环境效益，在后者方面的应用加强了对锂离子电池已经很大的兴趣。还提出了作为可再生能源的能量存储的进一步应用，以克服可再生能源（例如太阳能或风能）的供应问题的不稳定性。虽然新型锂离子电池电极材料的研究已经非常深入，但新型电解质材料的开发相对较少受到关注。在典型的锂离子电池中，电解质通常是有机溶剂中的锂盐，这是由于这种体系的高锂离子导电性。这种电解质的易燃、有毒和挥发性性质、与较高电压电极材料结合的不稳定性以及对电解质化的期望明显限制了常规液体电解质电池的进一步发展。固态电解质的使用允许克服这些问题的潜力，沿着提供一系列其他进步，包括高压电池组的简化生产。固态电池的另一个独特优势是它们的低漏电流，这在能量收集设备的使用方面提供了其他潜在的应用。此外，对形状灵活的可穿戴电子设备的需求为开发全固态电池系统提供了另一种途径。这个跨学科项目涉及化学，材料科学，化学工程和工业的研究人员，旨在开发新的固态锂离子电池。此类全固态电池已被确定为电池研究中最重要的未来目标之一，正如它们被列为法拉第挑战赛（行业战略挑战目标2）的快速项目之一所说明的那样。这些电池的重要性在于它们有可能提供更高的安全性，更小的尺寸和更高的容量，以及开辟新的应用，如能量收集设备。特别是，具有更高安全性的商业上可行的可缩放陶瓷基电解质的展示将在英国财富产生/投资机会方面提供巨大的好处（行业战略挑战目标1）。在潜在的商业化方面，石榴石锂离子导电电解质的优化，其放大合成和在所有固态电池中的演示，在锂离子电池技术方面提供了巨大的潜力，应用范围从便携式消费设备到运输。在帮助确保在这一领域产生影响方面，已经与工业界建立了密切联系，以便从工业角度为项目提供关键投入，同时沿着对最有前途的系统进行全电池测试的工业验证（工业战略挑战目标3）。这将使英国工业能够利用这项工作期间取得的进展，并提供一条早期开发路线（工业战略挑战目标1）。

The portable electronics boom has been driven by advances made in Li ion battery technology, following the initial work on the lithium cobalt oxide cathode material by Goodenough and co-workers. Other notable advances in terms of phosphate containing cathodes have extended the applications of lithium ion batteries to higher charge/discharge rate applications such as power tools and transport. Applications in terms of the latter have intensified the already substantial interest in lithium ion batteries, as a result of the environmental benefits of hybrid and all electric cars. Further applications as energy storage for renewable sources have also been proposed to overcome the intermittency of supply problems of renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power. While research on new lithium ion battery electrode materials has been intensive, the development of new electrolyte materials has received comparatively less attention.In a typical Li ion battery, the electrolyte is usually a Li salt in an organic solvent, as a result of the high Li ion conductivity of such systems. The flammable, toxic and volatile nature of such electrolytes, the instability in conjunction with higher voltage electrode materials, and the desire for miniaturisation are placing distinct limitations on further advances with conventional liquid electrolyte batteries. The use of a solid state electrolyte allows the potential to overcome these problems along with supplying a range of other advances including the simplified production of high voltage battery packs. A further unique advantage of solid state batteries is their low leakage currents, which delivers other potential applications in terms of use in energy harvesting devices. Furthermore the desire for shape-flexible, wearable electronic devices offers another avenue for the exploitation of all solid state battery systems. This interdisciplinary project involving researchers from chemistry, materials science, chemical engineering and industry aims therefore to develop new Solid State Li ion batteries. Such all solid state cells have been identified as one of the most important future targets in battery research, as illustrated by their inclusion as one of the fast-track projects in the Faraday challenge (industry strategy challenge objective 2). The importance of these batteries lies in their potential to deliver improved safety, reduced size, and higher capacity, as well as to open up new applications such as energy harvesting devices. In particular, the demonstration of a commercially viable scaleable ceramic-based electrolyte with higher safety will offer large benefits in terms of UK wealth generation/investment opportunities (Industry strategy challenge objective 1). In terms of potential commercialisation, the optimisation of garnet Li ion conducting electrolytes, their scale-up synthesis and demonstration in all solid state batteries offers significant potential in terms of Li ion battery technology, with applications ranging from portable consumer devices to transport. In terms of helping to ensure the delivery of impact in this area, a strong link has already been set up with industry, to provide key input into the project from an industrial viewpoint, along with industrial validation of the full cell tests on the most promising systems (industrial strategy challenge objective 3). This will allow UK industry to capitalise on the developments made during this work and offer an early route to exploitation (Industry strategy challenge objective 1).