NSERC-DFG SUSTAIN: Carbon materials from oil sands-derived asphaltenes for next generation sodium-ion batteries - from mechanistic investigations to life cycle analysis

锂离子电池（LIBs）是目前在高能量密度要求较高的领域建立起来的电化学储能装置。预计到2050年，在汽车锂基电池需求不断增长的推动下，目前锂的年需求量将增长18-20倍。锂的有限可用性及其提取相关的环境问题是研究钠离子电池（sib）等替代电池系统的主要动力。SIB的商业化正在进行中，然而，SIB技术主要使用由昂贵的天然前驱体制成的软碳和硬碳作为阳极材料，其比重量能仍然低于石墨基LIB系统。作为世界上最大的锂电池生产国之一，德国经济也对参与sib等环境友好型电池系统的商业化有着特殊的兴趣。电池产品商业化的一个主要方面，除了高比容量和稳定性，是它的价格。使用低成本的原料是至关重要的。一种潜在的大量可用和低成本的阳极前驱体是所谓的沥青质。在加拿大的阿尔伯塔省，作为油砂加工的副产品，每天生产数千吨沥青质。从技术上讲，它们被定义为粗馏分，在加入过量的正庚烷时沉淀，但可溶于甲苯。沥青质目前主要用作铺路材料、建筑地基防水涂料等。但是，它们目前的应用所产生的需求甚至远不及所产生的数量。因此，沥青质通常被简单地燃烧。因此，加拿大的研究人员对这种沥青质的升级循环产生了很大的兴趣，从而延长了它们的生命周期。OILSANDSBATT将把这两个目标结合在一起，由德国电池和加拿大材料工程专家合作完成。该项目背后的想法是在加拿大和德国的两个研究重点之间产生独特的协同作用，即废弃产品沥青质的增值升级和未来电池系统电极材料的开发。OILSANDSBATT将专注于开发下一代sib，该sib将使用油砂衍生的沥青质来制造阳极材料。计划项目的主要科学目标是：1)在SIB中建立沥青质衍生碳纤维和碳改性碳纤维作为阳极材料；2)研究潜在的存储机制，以实现有针对性的高能量密度和寿命电池优化；3)基于LCA分析估计产品的二氧化碳排放量，这将建立在合成和电化学导向工作包的数据基础上。

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are the currently established electrochemical energy storage devices in fields where high energy density is a strong requirement. It is expected that the current annual demand for lithium will increase by a factor of 18-20 until 2050, driven by the increasing demand for automotive lithium-based batteries. The limited availability of lithium and the environmental issues associated with its extraction are the main driving forces for research on alternative battery systems such as sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). The commercialization of SIBs is in progress, however, the SIB technology, which uses mainly soft- and hard carbons fabricated from expensive natural precursors as anode material, still suffers from lower specific gravimetric energies than graphite-based LIB systems. As one of the largest LIB producer world-wide, there is a special interest for the German economy to also take part in the commercialization of environmentally friendlier battery systems such as SIBs. One major aspect for the commercialization of a battery product, besides high specific capacity and stability, is its price. It is crucial to use starting materials with a low cost. A potential abundantly available and low-cost anode precursor are so-called asphaltenes. In Alberta, Canada, thousands of tons of asphaltenes are produced daily, as a byproduct of oil sands processing. Technically, they are defined as the crude fraction, which precipitates upon the addition of an excess of n-heptane, but are soluble in toluene. Asphaltenes are currently applied as paving materials, waterproof coatings on building foundations. However, their present applications do not generate the need even close to the amount generated. Therefore, asphaltenes are often simply combusted. Consequently, there is a big interest of Canadian researchers to upcycle such asphaltenes and to thereby extend their life-cycle. OILSANDSBATT will combine these two aims together into one collaborative work between German battery and Canadian material engineering experts. The idea behind the project is to generate a unique synergy between two research foci of Canada and Germany, namely the value-adding upgrade of the waste product asphaltenes and the development of electrode materials for future battery systems, respectively. OILSANDSBATT will focus on the development of next-generation SIBs, which will use oil sands-derived asphaltenes for the fabrication of anode materials. The main scientific objectives within the planned project are i) the establishment of asphaltenes-derived carbon fibers and carbon modified carbon fibers as anode materials in SIB, ii) to investigate underlying storage mechanisms to enable targeted optimization of the cells towards high energy density and lifetime, and iii) the estimation of the product’s CO2 emissions based on an LCA analysis, which will built on the data from the synthetically and electrochemically oriented work packages.