Sustainable Synthesis of Solid Electrolyte Materials for Next Generation All-Solid-State Rechargeable Batteries

征服可穿戴和便携式电子产品市场是下一代先进技术公司的圣杯，这些公司的理念与其说是在口袋里装一部手机，不如说是佩戴一部手机。该项目旨在开发其中的一个重要组件--全固态锂离子电池(LIB)，并致力于结合不同的专业知识来开发我们的配方，以实现全固态、可持续、可回收、安全的LIB。由于我们在纳米材料制造和电池生产与诊断方面的独特专业知识，我们拥有明显的优势。能源成本是电池行业面临的最大可持续发展问题之一。传统的材料合成路线需要高温和长时间来生产LIBS所需的活性材料。因此，使用紧急低温方法来合成和加固这些电池材料是一个关键的挑战。该博士项目的中心目标是首次使用新的合成和加固路线来创造全固态锂离子电池。为了最大限度地减少能源成本，该项目将把目前两个不同的研究领域结合在一起：用于材料合成的生物模板和用于材料致密化的冷烧结工艺(CSP)。研究的重点将是用于锂离子电池的固体电解质材料，但我们也将研究商业上相关的电极材料，以便制备测试全固态锂离子电池。先进的材料表征技术将在研究计划中发挥关键作用：尖端X射线和中子粉末衍射、拉曼光谱、电子显微镜和电气/电化学测试的使用都将是至关重要的。

Conquering the markets for wearable and portable electronics is the Holy Grail for next generation advanced technology companies whose concept is not so much to have a cell phone in your pocket but to wear one. This project seeks to develop an essential component of this - an all-solid state lithium-ion battery (LIB), and is dedicated to combining diverse expertise to develop our formula for an all-solid state, sustainable, recyclable, safe LIB. We have a distinct advantage thanks to our unique expertise in both nanomaterials manufacturing and battery production & diagnostics.Energy cost is one of the biggest sustainability issues faced by the battery industry. Traditional materials synthetic routes require high temperatures and long time periods to produce the active materials needed for LIBs. Using emergent low temperature methods to synthesise and consolidate these battery materials is therefore a key challenge.The central goal of this PhD project is to create, for the first time, an all-solid state LIB, using novel synthetic and consolidation routes. To minimise energy cost, the project will draw together two currently disparate areas of research: biotemplating for materials synthesis and the Cold Sintering Process, CSP, for materials densification. The focus for research will be on solid electrolyte materials for LIB applications, but we will also study commercially relevant electrode materials in order for us to prepare test all-solid-state LIB cells.Advanced materials characterisation techniques will play a key role in the research programme: the use of cutting-edge X-ray and neutron powder diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, electron microscopy and electrical/electrochemical testing will all be vital.