Development of coatings for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrode for zinc-air batteries

公众对温室气体排放造成的全球气候变化的认识已导致风能和太阳能等可再生能源的利用增加，而且还将进一步增加。这些能源本质上是间歇性的，需要有效的方法来储存电力以供以后使用。高效可靠的电化学储能和转换装置是采用这些替代能源的关键部件。这些装置是用来储存化学能的媒介，这些化学能可以在以后转化为电能。拟议的项目代表了申请者和Zinc8 Energy Solutions之间的合作努力，这两家公司正在开发一个这样的设备。Zinc8生产锌空气再生燃料电池系统，也被称为锌空气混合液流电池。锌以颗粒的形式作为电池的燃料，作为悬浮液保存在储存罐中，直到需要为止。当需要电力时，锌/氢氧化钾悬浮液被送到电堆与氧气结合产生电力。这个过程的副产品是氧化锌(氧化锌)，它被送到再生器，然后转化回锌。在锌再生过程中会产生氧气(放氧反应)，并排放到大气中。该项目的目标是提高从氧化锌中再生锌的效率和可靠性，主要是通过改进用于制造析氧反应电极的材料和工艺。最终，需要将电池充放电循环次数从~2000次增加到接近1,000,000次的值。

Public awareness of global climate change resulting from greenhouse gas emission has led to increasing utilization of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, with further increases on the horizon. These sources are inherently intermittent in nature, necessitating effective methods of storing power for later use. Efficient and reliable electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices are a key component to adopting these alternative energy sources. These devices are the media used to store chemical energy that can be later converted back to electricity. The proposed project represents a collaborative effort between the applicant and Zinc8 Energy Solutions, who are developing one such device. Zinc8 produces zinc-air regenerative fuel cell systems, which are also known as zinc-air hybrid flow batteries. Zinc, in the form of particles, is the fuel for the battery and is maintained in a storage vessel as a suspension in a potassium hydroxide (KOH) electrolyte until needed. When electrical power is required, the zinc/KOH suspension is sent to a power stack to combine with oxygen to produce electricity. The by-product of the process is zinc oxide (ZnO) which is sent to a regenerator for conversion back to zinc. Oxygen gas is produced (oxygen evolution reaction) during zinc regeneration and is discharged to the atmosphere. The goal of this project is to improve the efficiency and reliability of zinc regeneration from ZnO, primarily through improvements to the materials and processes used to fabricate the electrode for the oxygen evolution reaction. Ultimately the number of battery charge/discharge cycles needs to be increased from ~2000 to a value approaching 1,000,000.