Bioinspired green manufacturing of next generation energy storage materials
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sheffield
Department Name: Chemical & Biological Engineering
Abstract
The ubiquity of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in portable electronic devices have led to an enormous volume of research on materials promising improved performance characteristics. Whether in terms of the amount of energy they can deliver, their operating lifetime or overall cost, there are pressing demands for the development of improved functional materials. In particular, Li-Ni-Co-Mn-oxides are attractive cathode materials due to their high achievable specific capacity and good long-term performance; they are also commercialised and widely used in the battery market. However, their synthesis typically requires extreme temperatures over long duration, contributing the vast majority of the energy costs. Furthermore, their manufacture is wasteful and is unsustainable. Hence the use of more sustainable synthesis routes has the potential to drastically reduce this expense.
Learning from biology, we aim to discover new bioinspired routes to produce energy storage materials. These methods will need lower temperatures, leading to reduced energy demands, and allow for superior control of materials properties on the nanoscale. This is a radically new approach, which has never been applied to energy storage materials.
Learning from biology, we aim to discover new bioinspired routes to produce energy storage materials. These methods will need lower temperatures, leading to reduced energy demands, and allow for superior control of materials properties on the nanoscale. This is a radically new approach, which has never been applied to energy storage materials.
Planned Impact
Our vision is to discover radically new routes for preparing battery electrode materials by using bioinspired green chemistry.
Our project will help remove the energy intensive processing of LIB electrode materials, which removes some of the barriers in place that currently inhibit widespread production. These achievements will allow for the scale-up of "academically interesting" materials towards commercially viable volumes, yet at lower costs. This represents a significant economic and societal impact.
We will develop a simple and green synthesis of LIB electrode materials, which will attract wider academic community and encourage them to utilise our methods to undertake battery research and develop useful materials.
Our focus on sustainable battery technologies which will have a wider societal impact on the understanding and perceptions of school pupils and the public. Sustainable materials outlined in this proposal are especially appealing since their principles match the ethical aspirations of public.
Our project will help remove the energy intensive processing of LIB electrode materials, which removes some of the barriers in place that currently inhibit widespread production. These achievements will allow for the scale-up of "academically interesting" materials towards commercially viable volumes, yet at lower costs. This represents a significant economic and societal impact.
We will develop a simple and green synthesis of LIB electrode materials, which will attract wider academic community and encourage them to utilise our methods to undertake battery research and develop useful materials.
Our focus on sustainable battery technologies which will have a wider societal impact on the understanding and perceptions of school pupils and the public. Sustainable materials outlined in this proposal are especially appealing since their principles match the ethical aspirations of public.
Publications
Entwistle J
(2020)
Insights into the Electrochemical Reduction Products and Processes in Silica Anodes for Next-Generation Lithium-Ion Batteries
in Advanced Energy Materials
Entwistle J
(2020)
Mechanistic Understanding and Rapid Electrochemical Reduction of Silica for Lithium-Ion Battery Anodes
in ECS Meeting Abstracts
Entwistle J
(2020)
Two phase microstructure cycling of porous silicon active materials
in Energy Reports
Entwistle J
(2018)
A review of magnesiothermic reduction of silica to porous silicon for lithium-ion battery applications and beyond
in Journal of Materials Chemistry A
Entwistle J
(2020)
Mechanistic understanding of pore evolution enables high performance mesoporous silicon production for lithium-ion batteries
in Journal of Materials Chemistry A
Entwistle JE
(2021)
Enabling scale-up of mesoporous silicon for lithium-ion batteries: a systematic study of a thermal moderator.
in RSC advances
Description | This project aimed to discover bioinspired (green) routes to battery electrodes. We have now generated results to show that using bioinspired additives during the synthesis of electrode materials has an effect of the properties and performance. |
Exploitation Route | 1. Publication of the results - a manuscript is drafted, awaiting final set of results. 2. Presentation at conferences. 3. Application for a collaborative project by using results herein as proof-of-concept. |
Sectors | Energy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Transport |
Description | EP/W018950/1 Sustainable microwave manufacturing of functional inorganic materials (SuMMa) |
Amount | £1,683,171 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/W018950/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2022 |
End | 02/2025 |
Description | FUSE |
Amount | £2,991 (GBP) |
Organisation | The Faraday Institution |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2020 |
End | 08/2020 |
Description | Scalable and sustainable manufacture of Si anodes for transforming commercial batteries |
Amount | £126,275 (GBP) |
Funding ID | FIRG041 |
Organisation | The Faraday Institution |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2022 |
End | 05/2023 |
Description | Collaboration with Serena Corr and Denis Cumming |
Organisation | University of Sheffield |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Resulted in advanced characterisation of materials |
Collaborator Contribution | Conducted advanced characterisation and analysis using synchrotron x-ray scattering. |
Impact | Led to a high profile paper: Insights into the Electrochemical Reduction Products and Processes in Silica Anodes for Next-Generation Lithium-Ion Batteries Jake E. Entwistle, Samuel G. Booth, Dean S. Keeble, Faisal Ayub, Maximilian Yan, Serena A. Corr, Denis J. Cumming, and Siddharth V. Patwardhan Adv. Energy Mater. 2020, 2001826 DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202001826 |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Ever Charge Energy Ltd |
Organisation | Evercharge Energy Limited |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | This company spotted our recent paper/work on battery electrodes and now we have built a couple of project/funding applications. The PI is also now an advisor to this company. |
Collaborator Contribution | A pathway for commercialising our inventions/outcomes. |
Impact | n/a yet |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Greg Beaucage |
Organisation | University of Cincinnati |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We hosted Greg's visit and shared samples for USAXS. |
Collaborator Contribution | Greg visited us and also performed all USAXS experiments and analysis. |
Impact | Mechanistic understanding of pore evolution enables high performance mesoporous silicon production for lithium-ion batteries† Jake E. Entwistle, Gregory Beaucage and Siddharth V. Patwardhan J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020, 8, 4938 DOI: 10.1039/c9ta13633a |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | AIChE presentations |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Following two presentations were given virtually at the AIChE annual conference: 1. Mechanistic understanding and rapid electrochemical reduction of silica for lithium-ion battery anodes 2. Towards Green Manufacturing of Biologically Inspired Nanomaterials: Degree of Mixing and Mixing Time Analysis |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Conference presentations at 5th International Conference on Bioinspired & Biobased Chemistry & Materials |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Two presentation at the virtual 5th International Conference on Bioinspired & Biobased Chemistry & Materials. Unclear on the number of participants: 1. Bioinspired Green Chemistry to Design Sustainable and Scalable High Value Nanosilica 2. A Sustainable and Scalable Technology to Produce High Performance Mesoporous Silicon for Li-Ion Batteries |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Invited presentation at the Nature-Inspired Engineering conference, Italy |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | An invited presentation on the topic of Discovery, applications and scale-up of bioinspired nanomaterials at the ECI conference. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Invited speaker at the KTN Emerging Technologies symposium on Nature inspired solutions, Edinburgh, 13 Feb 2020 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This event was organised by the KTN and Heriot Watt University to build community in the area of nature inspired solutions. The talk and discussions sparked interesting future avenues, e.g. bidding for joint projects, building a UK-wide network. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Invited speaker at the RSC Process Chemistry Technology Group Launch Symposium, 19/11/2018 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This was an invited presentation on the topic of From discovery to scale-up of bespoke green nanomaterials. The symposium was organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry's PCTG special interest group (SIG). As a result of this successful event and the match with the SIG's agenda, Siddharth was selected to work on the PCTG's committee. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.procchem.group/ |
Description | Lydgate school visit |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | During this all-day school visit, we engaged with 120 Y6 students and their teachers in various activities relevant to bioinspired approaches to sustainable materials and manufacturing. As part of that, we included hands-on activities on energy storage, reactor engineering, nature inspired technologies, and manufacturing/process engineering. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | http://www.lydgatejunior.co.uk/BlogRetrieve.aspx?PostID=809820&A=SearchResult&SearchID=1628758&Objec... |
Description | Multiple presentations at the ACS conference, San Diego |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 6 presentations (including 2 invited) were given at the American Chemical Society's annual conference. The topics included: Application of Bioinspired Green Chemistry to Design Sustainable and Scalable High Value Nanosilica Magnesiothermic reduction to produce porous silicon for lithium-ion batteries Green nanomaterials: Journey from lab to manufacturing Bioinspired nanomaterials for water remediation Scale-up of MOFs for Sustainable and Commercial Manufacturing Understanding interfacial interactions to unlock the potential of bioinspired nanomaterials |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | School Visit and presentation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Tapton Secondary School, July 2022, Green nanomaterials: sustainable, scalable and economical routes to functional nanomaterials. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Seminar at Queens University Belfast, 15/05/2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This was an invited departmental seminar. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Visit to Jnana Probodhini School, Pune |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | A presentation to Y9 school students about nanomaterials and bioinspiration. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |