Development of high capacitance ceramics for electric energy storage

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The proposed program focuses on the development of a new class of high dielectric constant/capacitance and thus high energy density materials based on barium titanate ceramics. More specifically, it focuses on the design and manufacturing of a new generation of devices including batteries with great commercial potential. If successful the program will have an enormous impact on the present day storage, distribution and use of electric energy. Besides high energy storage capabilities, the advantages of these new materials and devices will result in large savings in weight, orders of magnitude faster charging, no deterioration in performance after a certain number of charging and discharging cycles and elimination of problems associated with disposal of hazardous substances such as metallic lead and acids. High capacitance will be imparted to the barium titanate ceramics by fabricating high surface area films on the titanium metal substrate. This concept has already been used in the manufacture of Alumina/Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors (AEC) with energy density over 200times higher than the standard ceramic capacitors. In the first stage of the program, the study will focus on the selection of parameters for the fabrication of dense defect-free barium metal films on dense titanium metal substrates. In the second stage, the focus will shift to fabricating and characterizing dense barium titanate films on a porous titanium metal substrate. In the third stage, the study will focus on the heat treatment and oxidation of a dense barium film and the nature of diffusion of barium and titanium ions to form high surface area barium titanate film. The objective here is to produce 1-3 µm thick high surface area barium titanate films with a minimum level of defects. The demand for cleaner environment and lower fuel consumption is constantly fuelling the need to replace the lead and acid in the existing batteries with devices that pose no threat to theenvironment with energy density capability approaching or even exceeding those of acid batteries. The development of ceramic based batteries with energy density of over 5-10 kJ/kg, combined with orders of magnitude faster charging, will revolutionise the way we generate, use and transport electric energy.