Rechargeable Hydrogen Gas Batteries for Large-Scale Energy Storage

Charging up Stationary Energy Storage

A low-cost iron-cadmium redox flow battery for large-scale energy storage

Rechargeable battery technologies have ignited major breakthroughs in contemporary society, including but not limited to revolutions in transportation, electronics, and grid energy storage. The remarkable development of rechargeable batteries is largely attributed to in-depth efforts to improve battery electrode and electrolyte materials. There are, however, still intimidating challenges of lower cost, longer cycle and calendar life, higher energy density, and better safety for large scale energy storage and vehicular applications. Further progress with rechargeable batteries may require new chemistries (lithium ion batteries and beyond) and better understanding of materials electrochemistry in the various battery technologies. In the past decade, advancement of battery materials has been complemented by new analytical techniques that are capable of probing battery chemistries at various length and time scales. Synchrotron X-ray techniques stand out as one of the most effective methods that allow for nearly nondestructive probing of materials characteristics such as electronic and geometric structures with various depth sensitivities through spectroscopy, scattering, and imaging capabilities. This article begins with the discussion of various rechargeable batteries and associated important scientific questions in the field, followed by a review of synchrotron X-ray based analytical tools (scattering, spectroscopy, and imaging) and their successful applications (ex situ, in situ, and in operando) in gaining fundamental insights into these scientific questions. Furthermore, electron microscopy and spectroscopy complement the detection length scales of synchrotron X-ray tools and are also discussed toward the end. We highlight the importance of studying battery materials by combining analytical techniques with complementary length sensitivities, such as the combination of X-ray absorption spectroscopy and electron spectroscopy with spatial resolution, because a sole technique may lead to biased and inaccurate conclusions. We then discuss the current progress of experimental design for synchrotron experiments and methods to mitigate beam effects. Finally, a perspective is provided to elaborate how synchrotron techniques can impact the development of next-generation battery chemistries.

Meeting aggressive carbon emission goals will entail widespread deployment of renewable sources of electricity. Because these sources are variable, there is a need to develop scalable energy storage technologies. The U.S. Department of Energy is supporting efforts to increase U.S. manufacturing and recycling capabilities for LIBs and to decrease costs of stationary storage batteries. Many factors influence the domestic manufacturing and cost of stationary storage batteries, including availability of critical raw materials (lithium, cobalt, and nickel), competition from various demand sectors (consumer electronics, vehicles, and battery energy storage), resource recovery (recycling), government policies, and learning in the industry, among other factors. Understanding how these factors interact and identifying synergies and bottlenecks is important for developing effective strategies for the LIB stationary energy storage system. We developed the Lithium-Ion Battery Resource Analysis (LIBRA) model as a tool to help stakeholders better understand the following types of questions: What are the roles of R&D, industrial learning, and scaling of demand in lowering the cost of battery energy storage system production? How do the intersections between the EV and stationary storage sectors affect the battery supply chain? For various stationary storage and EV penetration scenarios, what volumes of critical materials might be required and what role can resource recovery play? What does expected demand for both EVs and stationary storage portend for mineral resources and overall mineral scarcity? The LIBRA model is developed using a System dynamics (SD) modeling approach to represent interactions across the segments of the battery materials supply chain. System dynamics models can capture the complex interactions and feedback between the various system components that influence supply and demand. The LIBRA model is comprised of several interacting modules that represent specific portions of the LIB supply chain. The model tracks the buildout of the domestic LIB industry over time (2020 - 2050) and in the context of competing demands for raw materials, recycling, and markets for LIBs. The LIBRA model represents major systemic feedback loops and delays across the supply chain. This report provides a complete documentation for the LIBRA model, including model assumptions, data, scenario analysis results, and sensitivity analysis of the model's input space.

Redox flow batteries (RFBs) are considered one of the most promising large-scale energy storage technologies. However, conventional RFBs suffer from low energy density due to the low solubility of the active materials in electrolyte. On the basis of the redox targeting reactions of battery materials, the redox flow lithium battery (RFLB) demonstrated in this report presents a disruptive approach to drastically enhancing the energy density of flow batteries. With LiFePO4 and TiO2 as the cathodic and anodic Li storage materials, respectively, the tank energy density of RFLB could reach ~500 watt-hours per liter (50% porosity), which is 10 times higher than that of a vanadium redox flow battery. The cell exhibits good electrochemical performance under a prolonged cycling test. Our prototype RFLB full cell paves the way toward the development of a new generation of flow batteries for large-scale energy storage.

A novel iron-lead redox flow battery for large-scale energy storage

The Hawai‘i Natural Energy Institute (HNEI) is leading a team engaged in the research, development, deployment, and analysis of grid-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) that are designed for system control and power quality support at the generation, transmission, and distribution levels. The program aims to identify high value BESS applications at various system levels, develop control algorithms that maximize the benefit to the grid/customer and the lifetime of the BESS, and evaluate and optimize those algorithms under real world operating conditions. The focus is to deploy, operate, and validate the performance of four grid-scale BESS for various ancillary service applications on grid systems across the state. Large scale battery energy storage systems will become an important part of the electric grid in the near future and it will be essential to ensure their reliability. The objective of this project is to understand the degradation of the individual batteries to anticipate failures. Laboratory testing of advanced Li-ion battery cells is performed to support life-time analysis of technologies targeted for large-scale grid energy storage applications. HNEI’s battery testing efforts have focused on grid scale deployment lithium ion titanate battery technology which is successfully being used for a variety of purposes including frequency and power regulation of large scale wind and solar energy generation. There is currently a lack of understanding of long term performance of battery technology in general, and specifically lithium ion titanate, used under large scale, grid conditions. This work aims to fill that gap in knowledge through laboratory scale battery testing and the development predictive lifetime models of performance of grid battery technology. Accelerated testing of identical lithium ion titanate battery technology was performed in the laboratory and those results will be used to develop predictive performance models. This model will combine existing modules [1-4] that account for single cell asymmetric degradation, single cell heat generation, string imbalance, and cell paralleling. As real world data is collected from the grid batteries, the predictive models will be compared and assessed for accuracy and ability to predict performance. This work will present preliminary results of the cycle and calendar aging long-term studies. [1] M. Dubarry, N. Vuillaume and B. Y. Liaw, J. Power Sources 186(2), (2009) 500-507. [2] M. Dubarry, C. Truchot and B.Y. Liaw, J. Power Sources 219 (2012) 204-216. [3] https://www.soest.hawaii.edu/HNEI/alawa/[4] M. Dubarry, C. Truchot, A. Devie and B. Y. Liaw, J. Electrochem. Soc 162(6), (2015) A877-A884.

The primary advantages of Li ion batteries (LIBs) over traditional energy storage devices include high voltage, large capacity and stable cycling ability [1]. Despite their tremendous success in the market of portable devices and electric vehicles, people are developing next generation of batteries for large-scale energy storage or severe working environment, which demands LIBs with better cycling stability, safety and higher energy-density. Investigations on how Li ions transport through the components in a battery, such as anode, cathode, and electrolyte, would be helpful to understand the performances of LIBs, and therefore to realize reversible lithiation/delithiation during cycling.Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is an indispensable tool in probing real-space local structures at atomic resolution. Recently, advanced TEM techniques have been applied into tracking the transportation of lithium ions in battery materials [2]. Emerging methods like ABF, e-ABF, iDPC, EELS and ptychography offer possibilities to atomically observe Li ions' occupations, identify their chemical environment, and track the dynamics of their insertion and extraction [3-6]. At present, cryo-TEM technique is a hot spot to study the solid-electrolyte interphase where Li contained organic or inorganic compounds are very beam sensitive [7]. In-situ TEM techniques have unparallel merits to track the migration of lithium ions or see the phase transmission of electrode materials [8-9]. In this talk, we introduce the techniques for direct observation of Li species and their research advances in LIB materials. Perspectives for the current challenges and future development to investigate Li-containing materials are discussed.

A high-voltage rechargeable magnesium-sodium hybrid battery

Intermediate temperature NaCl-AlCl3-based Al-ion batteries are considered as a promising stationary energy storage system due to their low cost, high safety, etc. However, such a cheap electrolyte has a critical feature, i.e., strong corrosion, which results in the short cycle life of the conventional Al-metal anode and also limits the development of the NaCl-AlCl3-based Al-ion batteries. A noncorrosive electrolyte may be a good choice for addressing the above challenge, while it is difficult to obtain the electrolyte that has advantages of both noncorrosion and low cost. Therefore, here, we report a Ga-metal anode in the affordable NaCl-AlCl3 electrolyte for constructing a long-life stationary Al-ion energy storage system. This featured liquid metal anode shows good alloying and dealloying processes between metallic Ga and Al, as well as renders superior stability of the interface between the electrolyte and the anode (e.g., smoothly running for over 580 h at 2 mA cm-2). No-corrosion and no-pulverization problems appear in this novel liquid/liquid interface. Those advantages demonstrate that the liquid Ga-metal anode has a great promise for the improvement of the NaCl-AlCl3-based Al-ion batteries for large-scale stationary energy storage applications.

The chapter has been dedicated to primary and secondary batteries, their chemistry, design and industrial applications. Primary batteries. These are nonrechargeable batteries, e.g. alkaline and zinc-carbon cells, which produce electrical energy through spontaneous chemical reactions and are applied in household equipment. Rhodomelus and Joerges (2001) also add that rechargeable secondary batteries like lead-acid, nickel-cadmium, and lithium-ion batteries may be used as long-term energy storage in vehicles, portable electronics, and renewable energy systems. The battery parts, along with operating principle, energy density, efficiency and cycle life have been covered in the chapter with a focus on the parameters that influence performance and life cycle. It focuses on industrial applications, particularly to electric automobiles, grid storage and consumer electronics, where the battery capacity and reliability are critical. Thermal stability, capacity fading and environmental impact issue is also addressed and the way of enhancing the safety and efficiency of the battery. By the use of the theory and practical examples, the chapter offers students a comprehensive understanding of the storage of electrochemical energy, design and technological development. The study of batteries spans over the fundamental electrochemistry and the applied engineering disciplines, preparing students to be employed in the research of energy storage, electronics, automobile manufacturing, and sustainable technology.

The majority of Li-ion chemistry varieties consists of flammable materials and therefore may go to unpredictable catastrophic failures. One of the reasons for the battery thermal runaways is the development of low-resistive internal short circuits defined as hard shorts. Unfortunately, currently there are no fast and simple approaches for detecting the earliest signs of growing internal shorts and tracking battery health by this way. This impedes penetration of Li-ion batteries in electric vehicle and energy storage markets. The main objectives of our research are: elimination of thermal runaways and reduction of manufacturing and battery maintenance costs by early identification of potentially faulty cells. Internal shorts increase self-discharge (SD) of batteries. Therefore, the SD metric can serve for battery health estimation. However, presently there is no fast and at the same time direct methods to measure SD that doesn’t require full charge/discharge cycle with long rest times between charge and discharge steps. Conventional methods determine average SD rate for the specific long rest period. They are impractical for online SD measurement. Therefore, the focus and goal of our approach was on the development of a fast SD measurement method that can be incorporated in Battery Management System algorithms. The goal was reached with a suite of experimental electrochemical protocols combined with a newly developed model. The new metric, the SD current, which is determined under potentiostatic conditions at a slight discharge overvoltage, is proposed as a fast SD metric for detection of shorts and assessment of their severity. The slight discharge consumes only negligible capacity with minor state of charge disturbance. However, it allows equilibrating the battery quickly and subsequent determination of SD current as a pure metric at a stable state of charge corresponding to applied voltage. The method doesn’t require disconnection of the battery from the circuit and stabilization of battery voltage before measurement. Measurement can be done in 1–1.5 h or less in comparison with days or weeks for conventional SD measurement. The method is validated using a cell comprising artificial external shorts of different severity and with no short. It precisely differentiates the shorts with different resistivity. In addition, the developed modeling approach allows further decrease in the time of measurement using only initial partial datasets instead of the full set of data. The mathematical description was validated for several runs with 6% deviation from experimental data. A prime advantage of the model lies in the ability to predict SD at different battery state of charges, temperatures, etc. The method is non-invasive, and is battery chemistry and design agnostic. It is capable of the detection of nascent internal shorts as precursors of soft and then hard shorts that cause thermal runaway. Since the method detects early precursors of cell failures far before the point at which a thermal runaway occurs, it enables to provide advanced warning so that corrective action can be taken to avoid fires and cell explosions. The technology based on this patent pending method can be used in electric drive vehicles, stationary energy storage applications, military, aeronautic, as well as for portable electronic devices. It is easy adaptable by any battery management system to monitor battery state of health at any time and at any battery state of charge. Another promising application may be as a tool for the first responders on electric drive vehicles, grid storage and other battery related accidents. It also can be used at battery production, reducing inventory time to detect internal shorts not intentionally introduced to the battery during manufacturing process. Lastly, this technology could facilitate consistent analysis of SD behavior for previously used batteries and their cells that are repurposed within the secondary use industry.

Design of TiO2eC hierarchical tubular heterostructures for high performance potassium ion batteries

Ultrafine CoSe nano-crystallites confined in leaf-like N-doped carbon for long-cyclic and fast sodium ion storage

Semi-liquid lithium−sulfur batteries for large-scale energy storage