Low-Cost Na-Ion Batteries

The present proposal relates to the use of low-cost carbon materials produced via the " Hydrothermal Carbonization" as negative electrodes in Na-ion batteries.

Prof. Titirici's group has developed a low temperature hydrothermal method to produce carbon materials from biomass This technology has lead to several patent applications (via the Max-Planck Society patent unit office) and the formation of a spin-off company, Carbon Solutions, in Germany who is currently commercializing such HTC materials with 8 eur/kg. The group of Prof. Titirici has developed a large number of applications for these hydrothermal carbon (HTC) materials such as water purification, gas storage, soil fertilization, solid fuel, electrodes in energy storage devices, lectrocatalysis as well as heterogenous catalysis.

Recently, Prof Titirici group demonstrated that such HTC materials derived from glucose could be successfully used as negative electrodes in room temperature Na-ion batteries with a capacity of up to 250 mAh/g and excellent rate capability. Using such low cost but highly efficient electrodes in Na-ion batteries is very important as this can accelerate the commercialization of Na-ion batteries. Although room temperature Na-ion batteries (NIBs) represent one of the most viable, low cost and safe options for integration into the smart grid, their commercialization is hindered by the high cost and poor performance of their constituent electrode materials.

This collaboration between School of Materials Science and Engineering at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Johnson Matthey (JM) will advance the development of low cost and highly performing carbon electrodes based on abundant and renewable resources for NIBs. This will accelerate the development of low-cost individual components for Na-ion batteries which could be later integrated into a whole-system approach, creating a new generation of affordable stationary battery systems based on abundant Na-resources and biomass derived low cost carbon electrodes. This will
enable future large-scale stationary energy storage for balancing energy generation and demand thus improving the security of supply for low cost, CO2-free energy.

We have previously shown the feasibility of this concept. This proposal will be based on this previous experience and will advance future progress in low cost, efficient anodes in Na-ion batteries.

The proposed project aims to develop novel and low cost biomass-derived carbon anodes with high performance energy storage in Na-ion batteries. Its findings will benefit the academic community, primarily scientists in the fields of carbon
based materials and their applications in renewable energy, in particular in energy storage. However, as this project is based on a strong collaboration with industry, it has the potential to lead to the future commercialization of this type of electrodes and of Na-ion batteries for future stationary energy storage. In particular, we will focus on the application of such technologies for the future electrical grid development in order to solve the energy trilema identifies by TSB: reducing emissions improving security of supply reducing cost.
Who will benefit from this research and how will they do so?
A. Economic and societal impact.
Industry and companies requiring efficient energy storage technologies and efficient and low cost rechargeable batteries will be a direct beneficiary of the technology developed. The specific application that we will explore, in collaboration with
Johnson and Matthey (JM) will be to prove the feasibility of low cost carbons produced via the hydrothermal carbonization of biomass as efficient anodes in Na-ion batteries.

Energy storage technologies are seen as an important tool in achieving a low-carbon future. The International Energy Agency estimates under a scenario where variable renewable electricity such as wind and solar reaches between 27% and
44% of electricity production in 2050, an estimated 310 GW of additional storage would be needed, which make up 85% of electricity demand in 2050. According to the joint European association for Storage Energy and European Energy Research Alliance, sodium-ion batteries have the potential to provide the low cost and high safety necessary for grid applications, with cost claims with cost claims competitive with lead-acid (~40% less than lithium-ion) and cycle life exceeding 5,000 cycles and 100% depth of discharge.

The carbon materials producing industry will also benefit from this project, as we will develop a novel approach for producing low cost carbons with control over their properties. This will allow a different processing of biomass enabling high performance properties to be achieved. Hence more advanced manufacturing processes of carbon-based materials will be accessible.
Likewise, the biomass producers such as the farming sector will also have a benefit as this new developed technology will allow them to use their agricultural wastes differently, for the production of high end materials for renewable energy applications.
B. The public.
On a longer time scale, the public will benefit from findings of this project as its implications in the field of a constant and affordable supply of renewable energy. JM has already successfully marketed a range of energy storage devices that are
of direct interest to the public. The company's strategy is to diversify the range of technologies they can offer with the main purpose of improving their performance and reducing their costs.