Solid State Electrochemical Energy Storage Materials

电化学储能从来没有像今天这样重要。开发满足全球能源需求的可行的、长期的解决方案仍然是科学界面临的最关键的挑战之一。在能源成本和可持续发展问题日益高涨的背景下，国际社会对能源储存的关注(今年的诺贝尔奖就是例证)迅速形成势头。在我们NSERC发现基金的研究过程中，我们取得了突破性的发现，改变了电化学家对能量存储的思考方式。我们在这一领域的初步工作发表在2009年的《自然材料》杂志上，并描述了开启锂硫电池领域的“第一次”，该领域自那以来一直呈指数级增长。此外，这一发现为锂氧电池的突破指明了方向，并与钠离子电化学一起成为“超越锂离子电池”的新方法的基础。 在这项提议中，我们着眼于这些新技术的进一步发展，将基础固态化学/离子学、电化学和材料科学结合起来，以实现阶段性变化。将通过系统修改来探索突破所基于的概念的扩展，以将Li-S化学带入一个更可持续的固态平台。在这里，我们计划获得对电化学的更深层次的理解，以及扩大我们方法的反应性和实用性的范围。这将与新的固态离子导体(SSIC)作为固态电解质的基本发现相结合。SSIC的努力将成为全固态锂离子电池和钠离子电池尖端研究的平台，其中实现高离子导电性和控制接口是关键。我们的方法将把创新的材料化学发现与复杂的操作术结合起来，以探测工作中的电化学电池。新型Li和Na SSIC材料将使用我们重要的固态合成工具以及计算和物理化学研究来开发，以阐明控制离子迁移率的重要因素。这些离子导体将与将在项目过程中发现的新的正锂离子和钠离子电极材料相连接。通过这种方法，我们希望从根本上发现新的、成本更低、环保的能源存储解决方案。这样的发展将直接影响基础科学，也会带来实践创新。

Electrochemical energy storage has never been more important than today. The development of viable, long-term solutions that will meet global energy needs remains one of the most critical challenges facing the scienti?c community. Amid burgeoning energy costs and sustainability concerns, international focus on energy storage (witness the Nobel Prize this year) has rapidly gained momentum. During the course of our NSERC discovery grant research, we have made breakthrough discoveries that is changing the way electrochemists think about energy storage. Our initial work in this area was reported in Nature Materials, 2009 and described “a first” that kick-started the field of lithium-sulfur batteries, a field that has increased exponentially ever since. Moreover, this discovery helped point the way to a breakthrough in Li-oxygen batteries, and along with Na-ion electrochemistry has become the foundation for new approaches to “beyond Li-ion batteries”. In this proposal we target the further development of these new technologies with a combination of fundamental solid state chemistry/ionics, electrochemistry and materials science necessary to bring about step-changes. Extension of the concepts upon which the breakthrough is based will be explored with system modifications for taking Li-S chemistry to a more sustainable solid state platform. Here we plan to both garner a deeper understanding of the electrochemistry as well as expand the range of reactivity and utility of our approach. This will be coupled with fundamental discovery of new solid state ion conductors (SSICs) to serve as solid state electrolytes. The efforts in SSICs will serve as the platform for a cutting-edge undertaking in all-solid state Li and Na-ion batteries, where achieving high ionic conduction and controlling interfaces are key. Our approach will weave innovative materials chemistry discovery with sophisticated operando techniques to probe working electrochemical cells. Novel Li and Na SSIC materials will be developed using our significant arsenal of solid state synthesis tools, along with computational and physico-chemical studies to elucidate the important factors that govern ion mobility. These ion conductors will be interfaced with new positive Li-ion and Na-ion electrode materials that will be discovered through the course of the project. With this approach, we hope to uncover fundamentally new yet lower cost, environmentally friendly energy storage solutions. Such developments will impact directly on fundamental science and also lead to practical innovations.