Towards innovative and affordable sodium- and zinc-based energy storage systems based on more sustainable and locally-sourced materials (eNargiZinc)
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Chemical Engineering
Abstract
Electrochemical energy storage (EES) is crucial in the carbon-neutral future. Nevertheless, the current battery value chain has
significant risks, especially concerning the supply of critical raw materials. eNargiZinc aims at developing new knowledge, technology
and commercially exploitable products related to innovative and affordable next-generation EES devices, targeting long-term
sustainability through the use of abundant and renewable materials and low environmental-impact production processes. A rigorous
training-through-research programme for ten Doctoral Candidates (DCs) has been designed through an interdisciplinary and
intersectoral approach, involving studies on all the essential parts needed to develop sodium-ion batteries, zinc-air batteries, and
zinc-ion batteries/supercapacitors. The research within eNargiZinc will focus on developing sustainable electrode materials (biomassderived carbons and their composites, redox-active polymers, hybrid transition metal oxides, and interphases for anode-less
concepts), electrolytes (solid-state and gel-polymer types), and, especially, on integrating all the developed components into full cells
at an industrially-relevant scale. A Personalised Training Package for each DC will be tailored to allow them to acquire the required
skills over the three years of employment within the network. To this aim, secondments to other partners (especially in the nonacademic sector), training in complementary skills, and network-wide training events will be implemented. The consortium, which is
composed of nine beneficiaries and nine associated partners, is addressed to achieve the objectives of eNargiZinc and is based on
excellence, synergy and complementarity. Industrial partners will play a key role in the network, by providing the DCs with exposure
to the private sector and access to industrially-relevant facilities, which are essential to validate the findings obtained at lab-scale.
significant risks, especially concerning the supply of critical raw materials. eNargiZinc aims at developing new knowledge, technology
and commercially exploitable products related to innovative and affordable next-generation EES devices, targeting long-term
sustainability through the use of abundant and renewable materials and low environmental-impact production processes. A rigorous
training-through-research programme for ten Doctoral Candidates (DCs) has been designed through an interdisciplinary and
intersectoral approach, involving studies on all the essential parts needed to develop sodium-ion batteries, zinc-air batteries, and
zinc-ion batteries/supercapacitors. The research within eNargiZinc will focus on developing sustainable electrode materials (biomassderived carbons and their composites, redox-active polymers, hybrid transition metal oxides, and interphases for anode-less
concepts), electrolytes (solid-state and gel-polymer types), and, especially, on integrating all the developed components into full cells
at an industrially-relevant scale. A Personalised Training Package for each DC will be tailored to allow them to acquire the required
skills over the three years of employment within the network. To this aim, secondments to other partners (especially in the nonacademic sector), training in complementary skills, and network-wide training events will be implemented. The consortium, which is
composed of nine beneficiaries and nine associated partners, is addressed to achieve the objectives of eNargiZinc and is based on
excellence, synergy and complementarity. Industrial partners will play a key role in the network, by providing the DCs with exposure
to the private sector and access to industrially-relevant facilities, which are essential to validate the findings obtained at lab-scale.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Magdalena Titirici (Principal Investigator) |