New-generation energy storage nanomaterials: synthesis, characterization and lab-scale device fabrication

全球能源需求正在快速而显著地增长，因为能源作为现代经济所有部门的关键成分，由于我们对其充足和不间断的供应的依赖，已经侵入了当今的生活质量。制造经济可行、环境友好的高储能装置是当前科学界面临的主要挑战之一。为了满足大功率电子器件、备用电源和电动汽车对环境友好、高效的储能和转换设备的迫切需求，人们努力开发电池、燃料电池和超级电容器(ECs)，以取代化石燃料的使用。超级电容器因能同时实现高功率和高能量密度而备受关注，并在电子器件、备用电源和电动汽车中显示出巨大的应用前景。超级电容器装置是用两个电极制造的，浸泡在电解液中，就像电池一样，但由绝缘的多孔材料如聚合物膜隔开。在本项目中，纳米结构的平移金属氧化物(TMO)薄膜将被用作电荷收集器，因此将在铝上生长。这些薄膜将分别用碳纳米管、石墨烯或导电聚合物进一步修饰，以形成具有更好的电子和离子导电性的纳米复合薄膜超级电容器电极。最重要的是，由于TMO和碳材料的存在，这些纳米复合薄膜电极将同时利用伪电容器和双电层电容器(EDLC)的储能机制。制作的电极将用于组装实验室规模的超级电容器设备，并对其进行系统表征。该纳米复合材料将通过分解超疏水有机-无机网络来制备，这是一项完全创新的技术，因此研究成果具有专利权。由于可以利用阳极氧化铝孔(AAO)和微纳米球光刻技术来控制铝表面纳米颗粒的尺寸，这一研究成果将使我们能够制造出重量轻、体积小、成本低、高能量、高功率和长循环寿命的超级电容器器件。同样，将木材产品纳米晶纤维素(NCC)用于能源应用将为魁北克、加拿大以及国际带来基础知识和实际应用。这一新知识将通过培训四名预计将在五年内毕业的HQP来传授。此外，这一转移将通过国际期刊上的出版物进行传播。

Global energy demand is growing rapidly and significantly as energy, the key ingredient in all sectors of modern economy, has invaded the quality of life today due to our dependency on its abundant and uninterrupted supply. Fabrication of economically viable and environment friendly high energy storage device is one of the major challenges for the current scientific community. To meet the urgent need for environment-friendly, high efficiency energy storage and conversion devices for high-power electronic devices, backup power supplies, and electric vehicles, efforts have been made to develop batteries, fuel cells, and supercapacitors (ECs) with the aim of replacing fossil fuel use. Supercapacitors have received much attention because they can simultaneously achieve high power and high energy densities and have shown great promises for use in electronic devices, backup power supplies, and electric vehicles. A supercapacitor device is fabricated using two electrodes, immersed in an electrolyte, like batteries, but separated by an insulated porous material such as polymer membranes. In this project, nanostructure translon metal oxides (TMO) thin films will be grown on aluminum since it will be used as charge collectors. These thin films will be further modified with carbon nanotube, graphene or conducting polymer, separately, to create nanostructured composite thin films supercapacitor electrodes with improved electronic and ionic conductivities. Above all, these nanocomposite thin films electrodes will utilize both energy storage mechanisms of pseudocapacitors and electrical double layer capacitors (EDLC) due to the presence of both TMO and carbon materials. The fabricated electrodes will be used to assemble lab-scale supercapacitor devices and characterize them systematically. The nanocomposite materials will be fabricated by decomposing superhydrophobic organic-inorganic network which is completely innovative; hence the outcome of the research is patentable. Due to the possibilities to control of the size of the nanopatterns on aluminum using anodized aluminum pore (AAO) and micro-nanosphere lithography, the outcome of the research will enable us to fabricate a supercapacitor device having light weight, small size, low cost with high energy, high power and long cycle life. Similarly, use of nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC), a product of wood, in energy application would bring fundamental knowledge as well as practical applications for Quebec, Canada as well as internationally. This new knowledge will be transferred through training of four HQP's who expected to be graduated within five years. Moreover, this transfer will be disseminated through publications in international journals.