Advanced Energy Storage
Principal Investigador (PI)
Rubens Maciel Filho – UNICAMP – School of Chemical Engineering – maciel@feq.unicamp.br
Co-PIs
Antonio Riul Junior – UNICAMP – Physics Institute Gleb Wataghin – ariuljr@gmail.com
Gustavo Doubek – UNICAMP – Faculty of Chemical Engineering – doubek@unicamp.br
Hudson Zanin – UNICAMP – School of Electrical and Computer Engineering – hudsonzanin@gmail.com
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Publications
See publications list
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By 2050, it is expected that electricity will move from 18% to 50% of the world energy matrix and renewable sources of energy will expand four times from the current installed capacity, but CO2 emissions are expected to be half of today’s value. In this scenario, it is imperative to build novel solutions for energy storage that are still unavailable today and can cope with the predicted demands. Also, the worldwide increase of portable and wearable electronic devices encourages research on low-cost, flexible, light-weight and environmentally friendly energy storage and supply devices.
In order to effectively store and supply energy, advancement of batteries and supercapacitors is vital to make them economically more viable for applications that go from communications to transport. The ability of those devices to effectively and efficiently store and redistribute energy is highly dependent on the engineering of their constructions and the chemistry of the electrode surfaces and electrodes/electrolytes interfaces. High surface area, chemically stable electrodes and electrode/electrolyte interface knowledge are crucial for both batteries and supercapacitors.
In order to have insights into the operation and to develop new and more efficient materials and electrolytes for devices, a comprehensive chemical and structural understanding of the interface phenomena is fundamental. Therefore, CINE’s AES Division studies state-of-the-art batteries and supercapacitors under dynamic conditions by Raman and FTIR spectroscopies and high- intensity synchrotron X-ray. Raman and FTIR are carried out using optical fibers, coupling cell to spectrometers, allowing us to monitor the reactions during charge and discharge of a device. In situ high resolution and time-resolved X-ray diffraction will be performed in the SLAC – Stanford . The in situ techniques will be developed for operando conditions to address fundamental interfacial phenomena that could be linked with multiscale calculations and molecular dynamic simulations. This tailored tool will work in synergy with novel material synthesis based on high surface carbon and fast charge transfer electrodes.
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Projects
Co-PI: Hudson Zanin – UNICAMP – School of Electrical and Computer Engineering – hudsonzanin@gmail.com
The main objectives are to develop highly porous carbon-based materials and study the effects of different surface functionalizations for application in supercapacitor devices. After five years of research, it is expected to improve the storage and supply of high energy (~ 100Wh / kg) and power (100kW / kg) densities, maintaining at least 80% of them after 100,000 charge and discharge cycles as the current state of the art.
Co-PI: Hudson Zanin – UNICAMP – School of Electrical and Computer Engineering – hudsonzanin@gmail.com
The main objectives are to develop supercapacitor devices for the storage and delivery of high energy (100Wh / kg) and power (100kW / kg) densities and evaluate various electrode/electrolyte interfaces in various operating modes. More specifically, the objective is to study the loading and discharge during cycling tests in devices produced with carbon electrodes composed of mesoporous (pores from 2 to 50nm) and high surface area (> 300m2 / g) immersed in aqueous, organic and ionic electrolytes. Surface transformations will be investigated in the loading and unloading processes and surface modifications that lead the device to collapse and in this way propose solutions that seek to increase its useful life. Seeking to maintain at least 80% of the initial Energy, Power and Capacitance after 100,000 cycles is an intended goal. For that, different electrodes, electrolytes and sealing types of the devices will be investigated in detail, as well as various in situ characterization techniques such as Raman, SECM, FTIR, AFM, SEM and XRP, among others.
Co-PI: Gustavo Doubek – UNICAMP – School of Chemical Engineering – doubek@unicamp.br
The project aims to develop new prototypes in Li-O2 cells for in-situ characterization under real operating conditions. The characterizations to be employed are FTIR, Raman and X-ray by synchrotron light; the combination of information between the different techniques will allow a significant understanding of surface chemistry and the interaction of the species formed with the electrodes used.
Gustavo Doubek – UNICAMP – School of Chemical Engineering – doubek@unicamp.br
Antonio Riul Junior – UNICAMP – Physics Institute Gleb Wataghin – ariuljr@gmail.comThe project aims to develop new electrodes to be applied as a cathode in Li-O2 cells. The electrodes will be made carbon based by the growth of new CNT and functionalized graphene based geometries, as well as exploring the synergy with nanostructured noble metals. The project also works on the development of redox mediators for O2 reactions in order to improve the robustness of the electrode design. In-situ characterization techniques under real operating conditions, performed in a separate project, will also contribute to the development of new electrodes.
contato@cine.org.br
