Protic ionic liquid electrolytes in electrchemical energy storage

世界能源消费量预计将增长50%，到2030年将达到733×10^20焦耳，太阳能和风能发电等清洁可再生能源的发展势头强劲。由于这些能源产生的能量不连续，它们的使用强烈依赖于高功率和高能量密度的储能设备，这些储能设备将能够在非工作时间运行时供应电力。电化学电容器(EC)具有比电池更高的储能和输送能力，在未来的储能领域将发挥重要作用。尽管基于金属氧化物电极的EC具有很高的比电容，这使它们成为很有前途的存储器件，但它们的能量密度不足以满足未来的需求。电解液与电极材料相互作用的研究已被确定为优先领域，改进可能会带来重大进展，并将成为本研究计划的重点。我们建议在金属氧化物EC中使用质子型离子液体来代替水基电解液。这些离子液体完全由常温附近处于液态的离子组成，具有较高的热稳定性和电化学稳定性以及较高的质子浓度。拟议的研究计划涉及在金属氧化物电容器中使用PIL电解液，这是我的团队首创的想法。通过研究不同的离子结构来确定电解液的性质如何影响器件的性能，可以解决对电解液种类对分子相互作用的影响缺乏基本了解的问题。通过电化学和核磁共振实验，将特别关注质子在电解液中的传输和活性。这些性质对电荷存储的影响将在半电池和原型器件中用几个金属氧化物电极进行评估。拟议研究的预期结果和影响将在电能储存科学的基础和应用层面上感受到，这一领域在加拿大和许多其他国家被确定为优先领域。

With world energy consumption expected to increase by 50% and reaching 733 x 10^20 joules by 2030, there is a strong impetus for the development of clean, renewable energy sources such as solar- and wind-based electricity generation. Due to the non continuous energy generated by these sources, their use strongly relies on energy storage devices with high power and high energy density that will be able to supply electricity during off-hour operation. Electrochemical capacitors (EC) will play an important role in future energy storage due to their ability to store and deliver charge at higher power than batteries. Although EC based on metal oxide electrodes in particular possess very high specific capacitance which makes them promising storage devices, their energy densities are insufficient to meet future needs. Research on electrolyte interactions with the electrode materials in EC has been identified as a priority area where improvements could lead to significant progress and will be the focus of this research program. We propose the use of protic ionic liquids as replacement of water-based electrolytes in metal oxide EC. These ionic liquids are entirely composed of ions in a liquid state around ambient temperature, possess high thermal and electrochemical stability as well as a high concentration of protons. The proposed research program involves the use of PIL electrolytes in metal oxide capacitors, an idea that my group pioneered. The lack of fundamental understanding on the influence of electrolyte species on molecular interactions will be addressed by studying different ion structures to determine how electrolyte properties influence device performance. A particular attention will be given to the proton transport and activity in the electrolyte through electrochemical and NMR experiments. The effect of these properties on charge storage will be evaluated with several metal oxide electrodes both in half-cells and in prototype devices. The expected outcome and impact of the proposed research will be felt on both the fundamental and applied levels of the science of electrical energy storage, a field that is identified as a priority in Canada and many other countries.