Upscaling and Manufacturing of Ion-Selective Membranes for Energy Storage (IonMembrane)

电化学能量储存和转换技术在储存由可再生能源如风能和太阳能产生的能量以及在产生和利用清洁能量载体（例如，氢）。氧化还原液流电池（RFB）是有前途的电网规模的长期能量存储所需的间歇性可再生能源集成到电网中。在RFBs中，Nafion膜占电堆成本的40%。设计、开发和制造具有高选择性和高稳定性的可持续低成本聚合物膜是开发用于能量转换和储存的经济高效的电化学技术的主要挑战。在ERC资助的好奇心驱动的基础研究的支持下，我们开发了新一代碳氢化合物膜，克服了所有现有离子交换膜的性能限制，特别是用于氧化还原液流电池应用。这一概念验证赠款将提供一个及时的机会，探索我们用于电网规模储能和氢技术的新型离子选择性膜的商业化途径。我们建议开展以下工作：（1）按比例放大聚合物合成，（2）通过卷对卷流延制造膜以生产平方米大小的膜和工程以优化膜性能，（3）验证这些大面积膜在液流电池堆中的性能，而不是小的单电池，以更深入地评估它们在现实条件下的性能。该项目还将涉及与学术和工业合作伙伴的合作，包括大型能源和小型初创公司，从绿色制造到电池组的性能验证。该项目将有助于推动突破性的研究走向商业化。

Electrochemical energy storage and conversion technologies play a significant role in the storage of energy produced by renewables such as wind and solar as well as in the generation and utilization of clean energy carriers (e.g., hydrogen). Redox flow batteries (RFBs) are promising for grid-scale long-duration energy storage as required for the integration of intermittent renewable energy into the grid. Nafion membrane takes up to 40% of the stack cost in RFBs. The design, development, and manufacturing of sustainable low cost polymer membranes with high selectivity and high stability represent a major challenge for the development of cost-effective electrochemical technologies for energy conversion and storage.With the support of ERC-funded curiosity-driven fundamental research, we have developed a new generation of hydrocarbon-based membranes that overcome the performance limitations found in all existing ion exchange membranes, particularly for redox flow battery applications. This proof of concept grant would provide a timely opportunity to explore the pathways to commercialization of our new ion-selective membranes for grid-scale energy storage as well as for hydrogen technologies. We propose to work on: (1) Scaling uppolymer synthesis, (2) Manufacturing membranes via roll-to-roll casting to produce meter-square-sized membranes and engineering to optimize membrane performance, (3) Validating performance of these large-area membranes in flow battery stacks, instead of small single cells, for more intense evaluation of their performance under real-world conditions. This project will also involve collaboration with academic and industrial partners including large energy and small start-up companies, from green manufacturing to performance validation in battery stacks. The project will help advance the ground-breaking research toward commercialization.