ARC Linkage
Investigators: A/Prof. Pramod Koshy (Materials Science and Engineering UNSW), Prof. Charles Sorrell (Materials Science and Engineering UNSW), Dr. Helena Yuan Wang (University of Melbourne), A/Prof. Neeraj Sharma (Chemistry UNSW), Dr. Hamid Arandiyan (RMIT), Dr. Sajjad Mofarah (Materials Science and Engineering UNSW)
Industry Partner: Vecor Technologies Pty. Ltd.
Timeframe: 2024 – 2027
Growing demand of renewable energy generation as an alternative to fossil fuels has increased the need for energy storage systems that remediate the intermittency of renewable energies. The Australian Government has prioritised the generation of 50% of its power from renewable energy sources by 2030 in accordance with the National Energy and Decarbonisation Scheme. The main approach to this is batteries, with a global market projected to hit a compound annual growth rate of 12% from 2020 to 2030, increasing the market revenue from US$102 billion in 2021 to an estimated US$284 billion by 2030 .
Of batteries, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are advantageous in that they demonstrate long life, superior power density, lower long-term cost, and reduce waste compared with primary batteries. The commercial fabrication processes for LIBs and SIBs are multiple-stage and involve the use of high temperatures over extended times, followed by grinding, addition of liquid medium, binding, and conductive agents, and slurry casting on a current collector . These result in high cost, significant environmental impact, safety issues, quality control issues, and diminished performance. Therefore, the present work aims to overcome these limitations through the development of (a) superior cathode fabrication methods, (b) improved cathode designs, and (c) lower-cost materials and processes.
The goal is to establish a simple, controllable, practical, scalable, and economical method to fabricate cathodes of high performance. The focus on SIBs allows the toxicity (Co, Li) and scarcity (Li) of LIBs to be addressed. Thus, the main aim of the project is to conceptualise the cathode fabrication process by the simple, single-step, high-yield, cost-effective, and room-temperature fabrication of active cathode materials and integrating these into batteries with minimal or no further processing.
- Thermodynamic and structural simulation of aqueous electrochemistry
- Ex-situ fabrication of cathodes for Na-ion batteries
- In situ fabrication of cathodes of Na-ion batteries
- Lab-scale coin-cell battery assembly (lower storage capacity)
- Industrial-scale pouch-cell battery assembly (higher storage capacity)
- Ex situ and in situ characterisation through mineralogical, particuological, nanostructural, chemical, defect, and electrochemical characterisation during and after fabrication in order to optimise the stoichiometry, crystal structure, defect chemistry, and nanostructural features