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Projects: Projects for Investigator
Reference Number EP/P003494/1
Title Zinc-Nickel Redox Flow Battery for Energy Storage
Status Completed
Energy Categories Other Power and Storage Technologies(Energy storage) 100%;
Research Types Basic and strategic applied research 100%
Science and Technology Fields PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Chemistry) 75%;
PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Physics) 25%;
UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation Not Cross-cutting 100%
Principal Investigator Dr X Li
No email address given
Engineering Computer Science and Maths
University of Exeter
Award Type Standard
Funding Source EPSRC
Start Date 15 November 2016
End Date 13 May 2020
Duration 42 months
Total Grant Value £838,946
Industrial Sectors Energy
Region South West
Programme Energy : Energy
 
Investigators Principal Investigator Dr X Li , Engineering Computer Science and Maths, University of Exeter (99.997%)
  Other Investigator Dr AA Shah , School of Engineering, University of Warwick (0.001%)
Dr T (Tapas Kumar ) Mallick , School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University (0.001%)
Professor NP (Nigel ) Brandon , Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London (0.001%)
  Industrial Collaborator Project Contact , C-Tech Innovation Ltd (0.000%)
Project Contact , WhEST (0.000%)
Web Site
Objectives
Abstract With a number of advantages over other existing energy storage system (ESS) including flexibility, mobility, depth of discharge, rapid response, and safety, redox flow batteries (RFB) are one of the most promising and versatile options for grid scale energy storage, potentially enabling the integration of intermittent but growing fast renewable energy sources into power grids. RFB represent one class of electrochemical ESS and have been attracting attention over last two decades. Several chemistries of RFBs have been studied. However none of them fully meet the cost and performance requirements. Significant developments are required at all levels: investigation of new chemistries, materials engineering, cell design and long-term performance characterization in realistic environments.This project will investigate an innovative RFB system based on nickel and zinc redox couples. The zinc-nickel system is promising due to the low cost and material abundance of its redox couples, their environmentally acceptable chemistry, high standard electrode potential and high power and energy densities. The scope of this project is on the improvement of materials and engineering design, combined with advanced characterisation techniques and computational modelling to gain fundamental insights and accelerate progress towards a high-performance, durable cell design. The programme will be focused on ways to improve the morphology of thick zinc electrodeposits when subjected to multiple deposition/dissolution cycles, and methods to increase the charge capacity of the positive electrode in flowing electrolyte conditions.In addition, the system is a membrane-free flow battery, which differs from conventional flow battery technologies since it employs only a single electrolyte and therefore operates without a need in membrane separator; this reduces the cost and design complexity of the batteries significantly. Overall, the performance of the Zn-Ni battery should compare well with existing redox flow batteries.The project will be a collaborative research endeavour between highly experienced researchers with internationally recognised expertise in flow batteries from the University of Exeter, Imperial College London and the University of Warwick.
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Added to Database 19/03/19