Realising Structural Power: Addressing the Manufacturing Challenges

结构动力复合材料是机械承重材料，具有储存和传递电能的能力。这些多功能复合材料是一种完全不同的结构材料使用方式，结合了两种关键技术（轻量化和储能）。在交通运输、便携式电子产品和电网基础设施中采用它们可以大大有助于实现零网络目标。目前，为了满足电动汽车的续航里程要求，电池占汽车重量的相当大比例（~25%）。为了减少这种寄生质量，传统的方法是增加电池的能量密度，但这有相当大的可持续性、安全性和寿命问题。但是，如果用可以储存电能的结构材料制造车身，就可以大大减轻重量。例如，我们已经证明，在给定的能量密度下，使用结构动力材料制造的电动汽车的行驶里程大约是使用传统电池的汽车的两倍。在另一个例子中，不要求飞机的机翼是中空的（用于储存燃料或电池）将释放设计限制：机翼可以非常细长，减少阻力，对未来的飞机设计和航程有深远的影响。结构动力复合材料有可能彻底改变未来的交通运输、便携式电子设备和基础设施。然而，由于研究人员开创了他们的发展，他们的工业转化受到诸如微观结构控制不良，设备制造不一致，由于低效的电流收集和缺乏封装解决方案而导致的规模扩大不良等问题的阻碍。本提案旨在解决这些问题，使工业采用结构动力复合材料造福社会。这项研究的重点是超级电容器：一种提供快速充放电循环的能量存储设备。我们的结构超级电容器由两个碳纤维层状电极组成，电极注入碳气凝胶（CAG）。这些电极夹在一个离子导电但电绝缘的分离器中间，这个层压板注入了结构电解质（SE）。拟议的研究将由伦敦帝国理工学院（ICL），杜伦大学（DU）和布里斯托尔大学（UoB）组成的互补团队进行，与材料供应商（Hexcel， Gen2Carbon和CME），研究提供商（Hive Composites， NCC和NPL）以及OMEs（空客和BAE系统）等行业合作。我们将解决实现结构功率的制造问题，重点关注WP1：结构电解质（DU）， WP2：器件制造（UoB）和WP3：电流收集和封装（ICL）的相互依赖方面。在WP1（结构电解质）中，我们将采用两种平行的策略。第一种方法将使用我们现有的配方，但提高可加工性，而不会对其性能产生不利影响。第二种更具冒险性的方法是使用不同的基质化学物质在SE中产生更精细的微观结构。在WP1中开发的配方将在WP2（器件制造）中采用，在WP2中，我们将通过膜化SE或将SE注入干电极/分离器堆栈来探索在加工过程中更好地控制微观结构。为了更好地了解和控制加工过程中的SE微观结构，我们将设计一个智能模具，该模具将在制造过程中提供详细的流动和固化条件监测和控制。在WP3（电流收集和封装）中，我们将识别和模拟材料和工艺，以最大限度地减少电流收集的电阻损耗和寄生质量。最后，封装任务将确定提供不透水屏障但可以将机械负载转移到结构超级电容器的材料。这项工作最终将在工业启发应用中展示最佳概念。

Structural power composites are mechanically load-bearing materials with the capacity to store and deliver electrical energy. These multifunctional composites are a completely different way of using structural materials, combining two critical technologies (lightweighting and energy storage). Their adoption in transportation, portable electronics and grid infrastructure could significantly help in meeting the NetZero targets. At present, to fulfil range requirements in electric vehicles, a sizable proportion (~25%) of the vehicle weight are the batteries. To reduce this parasitic mass, the conventional approach is to increase battery energy density, but this has considerable sustainability, safety and longevity issues. But by making the vehicle body from structural materials that can store electrical energy, huge weight savings can be made. For example, we've shown that for a given energy density, electric cars made using structural power materials would have about twice the range of that of a car using conventional batteries. In another example, not requiring aircraft wings to be hollow (to store fuel or batteries) would release design constraints: the wings could be very slender, reducing drag, having a profound effect on future aircraft designs and range. Structural power composites have the potential to revolutionise future transportation, portable electronics and infrastructure. However, since the investigators pioneered their development, their translation to industry are being hampered by issues such as poor microstructural control, inconsistent device manufacture, poor scale-up due to inefficient current collection and lack of encapsulation solutions. This proposal aims to address these issues, enabling industrial adoption of structural power composites to the benefit of society.The research focusses on supercapacitors: energy storage devices that provide rapid charge/discharge cycles. Our structural supercapacitors consist of two carbon-fibre lamina electrodes that are infused with a carbon aerogel (CAG). These electrodes sandwich an ion-conducting, but electrically-insulating, separator and this laminate is infused with a structural electrolyte (SE). The research proposed will be undertaken by a complementary team from Imperial College London (ICL), Durham University (DU) & University of Bristol (UoB), in collaboration with industries ranging from material suppliers (Hexcel, Gen2Carbon & CME), research providers (Hive Composites, NCC & NPL) to OMEs (Airbus & BAE Systems). We will address manufacturing issues for realising structural power, focussing on the interdependent aspects of WP1: Structural Electrolytes (DU), WP2: Device Fabrication (UoB) and WP3: Current Collection and Encapsulation (ICL). In WP1 (Structural Electrolytes) we will pursue two parallel strategies. The first approach will be using our existing formulation but improve the processability without detrimental effects to its performance. The second, more adventurous approach, is using a different matrix chemistry to produce a more highly refined microstructure in the SE. The formulations under development in WP1 will be adopted in WP2 (Device Fabrication), where we will explore better control of the microstructure during processing either through filming the SE or infusing the SE into the dry electrode/separator stack. To better understand and control the SE microstructure during processing we will design a smart mould which will provide detailed monitoring and control of the flow and cure conditions during manufacture. In WP3 (Current Collection and Encapsulation) we will identify and model materials and processes to minimise the resistive losses and parasitic mass of current collection. Finally, the encapsulation task will identify materials that offer an impervious barrier but can transfer mechanical load into the structural supercapacitor. The work will culminate in demonstration of the best concepts in industry-inspired applications.