CAS-Climate: Understanding the fundamental redox chemistry and transport of chloroaluminate anions in ionic liquid electrolytes to develop earth-abundant aluminum ion battery

充电电池正在推动插电式电动汽车的兴起，以及电网中间歇性的可再生能源储存/运输/利用。随着未来十年电动汽车生产和销售预计将以两位数的年增长率增长，材料成本、资源可获得性和供应链将成为新颖和可持续电池技术的越来越关键的因素。在这方面，铝离子电池凭借其快速充电能力、丰富的地球资源和较低的原材料成本，在大规模储能应用方面具有很大的前景。本项目的总体目标是：1)开发具有低粘度和高导电性添加剂的新型氯铝酸盐离子液体电解液；2)阐明铝离子电池中氯铝酸盐阴离子的微观转化化学、传输、电荷存储机理和稳定性挑战。这些知识对于提高地球资源丰富、更安全、更长寿命的铝离子电池的商业化潜力至关重要。该项目致力于增加阿拉巴马州西部农村地区未被充分代表的本科生和研究生对科学和工程研究的参与。该项目的教育效益包括电分析化学、材料科学、电池科学与工程、微制造和电池设计方面的研究生和本科生研究员培训。该项目的目的是系统地探索离子液体电解液组成和表面工程石墨烯泡沫电极对氯铝酸盐阴离子的吸附、转化、插层和质量传输的影响，为铝离子电池中氯铝酸盐阴离子物种的有效转化和插层/脱嵌化学提供基础了解。对石墨烯/离子液体电解质界面结构的新见解，包括定量的分子或原子级结构、化学、光谱和电化学表征，将为促进或抑制各种界面现象提供强有力的实用策略。这些研究的结果和知识将指导新型离子液体电解液和石墨烯电极的设计和制造，以实现铝离子电池优异的储能密度和循环性能。这些知识对于设计长寿命电解液/电极和低成本储能系统是至关重要的。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Rechargeable batteries are powering the rise in plug-in electric vehicles and intermittent renewable energy storage/transport/utilization in the electric grid. With double-digit annual growth expected over the next decade for production and sales of electric vehicles, cost of materials, resource availability, and supply chain will become increasingly critical factors in novel and sustainable battery technologies. In this regard, aluminum ion batteries hold great promise for large-scale energy storage applications based on their fast-charging capability, earth-abundant resources, and lower cost of raw materials. The overall objective of this project is to 1) develop novel chloroaluminate ionic liquid electrolytes with low-viscosity and highly conductive additives, and 2) elucidate microscopic conversion chemistry, transport, charge storage mechanism, and stability challenges of chloroaluminate anions in aluminum ion batteries. Such knowledge is critical to enhance the commercialization potential of earth-abundant, safer, and long-life aluminum ion batteries. This project strives to increase participation of underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students in science and engineering research in rural west Alabama. The educational benefits of the project include graduate and undergraduate researcher training in electroanalytical chemistry, materials science, battery science and engineering, microfabrication, and cell design.The project’s aim is to systematically explore the effects of ionic liquid electrolyte compositions and surface engineered graphene foam electrodes on the chloroaluminate anions adsorption, conversion, intercalation, and mass transport, which will provide a fundamental understanding of effective conversion and intercalation/deintercalation chemistry of chloroaluminate anions species in aluminum ion batteries. New insights, including quantitative molecular or atomic-level structural, chemical, spectroscopic, and electrochemical characterizations, into graphene/ionic liquid electrolyte interfacial structures will provide powerful practical strategies to promote or suppress various kinds of interface phenomena. The outcome and knowledge gained from such studies will guide the design and fabrication of novel ionic liquid electrolytes and graphene-based electrodes for superior energy storage density and cycling performance of aluminum ion batteries. Such knowledge is critically needed for designing long-life electrolytes/electrodes and low-cost energy storage systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.