Development of new positive electrode materials for rechargeable zinc-ion intercalation batteries to overcome energy capacity and stability limitations

麦克马斯特的三名研究人员将与Salient Energy合作，发现、开发和实施用于可充电锌离子嵌入电池(锌离子电池)的新型高性能正极材料。该项目将直接解决当前最先进的氧化锰电极的储能容量、容量保持率和成本限制，这些限制了它们在储能应用中的技术经济可行性。特别是，锌离子电池的目标是非便携应用，例如电网规模的储能--预计到2030年，这个领域每年将增长到150亿美元。这些应用需要高性能和负担得起的电池，因为它们将通过提供负载均衡/存储来减少碳排放，以促进可再生但可变能源(风能、太阳能)与全球电力基础设施的整合。跨学科项目团队将采取有针对性和整体性的方法来发现、了解和实施可充电锌离子电池的新正极材料，以解决性能、稳定性和成本方面的挑战。该方法包括：(1)实验合成、表征新设计的正极材料并将其集成到锌离子电池中以进行性能评估；(2)计算材料发现，其中将根据第一原理筛选数百种化合物以指导实验活动；(3)对现有的和新的正极锌离子电池材料进行现场表征，以了解机理并指导计算/实验工作。该项目将导致锌离子电池材料和工艺设计具有更高的性能和更低的成本。这些发明将转让给Salient Energy进行中试生产和示范，该知识产权预计将为加拿大在制造和销售用于电网规模储能的可充电锌离子电池方面提供竞争优势。

Three McMaster-based investigators will collaborate with Salient Energy to discover, develop and implement new, high performance positive electrode materials for rechargeable zinc-ion intercalation batteries (Zn-ion batteries). This project will directly address the energy storage capacity, capacity retention and cost limitations of current state-of-the-art manganese oxide electrodes that limit their techno-economic viability for energy storage applications. Particularly, Zn-ion batteries are targeted for non-portable applications, such as grid-scale energy storage - a sector predicted to grow to >$15 billion annually by 2030. High performance and affordable batteries are needed for these applications, as they will enable carbon emissions reductions by providing load leveling/storage to facilitate the integration of renewable but variable energy source (wind, solar) into global electricity infrastructures. The interdisciplinary project team will take a targeted and holistic approach to discover, understand and implement new positive electrode materials for rechargeable Zn-ion batteries to address performance, stability and cost challenges. The approach includes: (1) Experimental synthesis, characterization and integration of newly designed positive electrode materials into Zn-ion batteries for performance evaluation; (2) Computational materials discovery, where hundreds of compounds will be screened based on first principles and down selected to guide experimental activities; and (3) in situ characterization of existing and new positive electrode Zn-ion battery materials to understand mechanisms and guide computational/experimental efforts. This project will result in Zn-ion battery materials and technology designs with higher performance and decreased cost. These inventions will be transferred to Salient Energy for pilot-scale production and demonstration, with the intellectual property expected to provide Canada a competitive edge in the manufacture and sale of rechargeable Zn-ion batteries for grid scale energy storage.