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Project title

Lithium and Sodium Ion Batteries Based on Earth Abundant Materials

Primary Funding Agency

Irish Research Council

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

n/a

Lead Organisation

University of Limerick (UL)

Lead Applicant

n/a

Project Abstract

Developments in battery technology in the last 30 years have led to major changes in our daily lives. Most obviously, mobile devices (i.e. smartphones) would not have become a reality without the development of low-cost, high-performance Li-ion batteries. Moving into the future, the importance of battery technology is set to increase even further, with emerging applications like electric vehicles and large scale stationary storage requiring higher performance and more sustainable battery technologies. This anticipated reliance on battery technology has led to a wave of battery research and the identification of �beyond Li-ion� batteries that are potentially more sustainable and/or higher performance than our current technologies. The main hurdle to the development of these new technologies (and to the improvement of current Li-ion batteries) lies in the active materials used. This project seeks to develop sustainable, high performance battery active materials suitable for current generation (Li-ion) and/or next-generation (Na-ion) technologies. New materials will be synthesized, tested in battery cells and fully interrogated in terms of their performance mechanism. This mechanistic examination will allow us to understand how structural and chemical changes during battery operation occur and how they impact performance. Given the similarity in general operation of Li-ion and Na-ion batteries, there is significant potential to develop materials that are suitable for current generation AND future generation systems. The main driving force for the project will be the identification of earth-abundant, raw materials (e.g. Cu,Fe,S) that can deliver high performance while ensuring sustainability. Insight from initial Li-ion battery testing will be used to inform the development of subsequent Na-ion battery materials. This project would be a major step forward in battery materials development by delivering beyond state of the art (SoA) understanding of operating mechanisms that are crucial to future battery improvements at the active material level.

Grant Approved

�110,000

Research Hub

Climate related research

Research Theme

Achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

Start Date

01/09/2021

Initial Projected Completion Date

31/08/2025