Understanding the role of mesoporous Silicon in sustainable energy applications

EPSRC：马克西米利安：EP/L 016818/1锂离子电池是电网储能和电动汽车等耗电应用的首选电池。然而，这种电池的某些特性，包括其能量密度，限制了它们所使用的设备的性能。例如，一箱重45公斤的汽油可以行驶300英里，而电池的重量必须超过450公斤，这就是为什么电动汽车的里程往往要低得多。硅是一种能够储存目前使用的石墨能量十倍以上的材料，然而，任何材料要实现商业化，都必须大规模生产。因此，至关重要的是，材料不仅性能良好，而且可以以具有成本效益的可持续方式生产，可以很容易地扩大规模。通过将我们的材料与加拿大Dasog博士团队开发的工艺相结合，我们将能够更好地了解节能，低温镁热还原工艺的反应化学。这将使我们能够进行优化，以提高其扩大规模的可行性。该项目还将包括建模方面，实验结果将被输入技术经济模型，该模型可用作电池制造商确定最佳二氧化硅原料类型和所选应用的还原条件的工具。由于制造多孔硅的程序是相同的，技术经济模型可以扩展到包括光催化应用的成本分析。生产用于该应用的多孔硅的成本可以基于给定的性能指标并因此基于其值，使用已经从镁热还原实验收集的数据来计算。

EPSRC : Maximilian Yan : EP/L016818/1Lithium-ion batteries are the battery of choice in power-hungry applications such as grid energy storage and electric cars. However, certain characteristics of this battery, including its energy density, limits the performance of the devices they are used in. For example, a full tank of petrol weighing 45 kg will give a range of 300 miles, whereas a battery will have to weigh more than 450 kg, which is why electric vehicles tend to have much lower mileage. Silicon is a material capable of storing more than ten times the energy of the currently used graphite, however, for any material to reach commercialisation it has to be manufactured at large scales. Hence, it is crucial that a material not only performs well, but can be produced in a cost-effective, sustainable manner that can easily be scaled up. By combining our material with the process developed in Dr Dasog's group in Canada, we will be able to better understand the reaction chemistry of the energy efficient, low-temperature magnesiothermic reduction process. This will allow us to make optimisations to improve its viability for scale-up. This project will also include a modelling aspect, whereby the results from experiments will be fed into a techno-economic model, which can be used as a tool for battery manufacturers to determine the best type of silica feedstock and reduction conditions for a chosen application. As the procedure for manufacturing porous silicon is the same, the techno-economic model can be expanded to include a cost analysis for photocatalytic applications. The cost of producing porous silicon for this application can be calculated based on a given performance metric and therefore its value, using data already collected from magnesiothermic reduction experiment.