OptiCarb · Optimising hard carbon anodes for efficient energy storage in sodium-ion batteries
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2021-11-01 → 2025-02-09
- EU contribution
- €224,934
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Optimising hard carbon anodes for efficient energy storage in sodium-ion batteries
The OptiCarb project addresses a central challenge in the development of sodium-ion batteries (SIBs): the poor performance of conventional carbon anodes. While hard carbons have emerged as the most promising alternative due to their high capacity and cost-effectiveness, their complex atomic structure has limited a clear understanding of sodium storage mechanisms. This knowledge gap has hindered the design of high-performing electrodes. OptiCarb was launched to overcome this bottleneck by developing realistic atomistic models of hard carbons and using them to uncover the fundamental mechanisms governing sodium intercalation and adsorption. The ultimate goal was to guide the rational design and synthesis of optimized carbon electrodes, thereby accelerating the commercial viability of SIBs as a sustainable alternative to lithium-ion batteries.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
OptiCarb overall aim is to understand the fundamental mechanisms of sodium-ion intercalation/adsorption in hard carbon anodes and find the optimum carbon atomic configuration that maximises the sodium storage capacity. Experimentally it is difficult to unravel the mechanistic nature of sodium-carbon interactions, due to the complex atomic structure of hard carbons. Therefore, theoretical studies based on molecular simulations are crucial, as they can achieve atomistic resolution. However, up to date there is no realistic model capturing the microstructural complexity of hard carbons available in the literature, which hinders the subsequent study of the sodium-hard carbon interface. In this computational project I will use molecular dynamics simulations and an innovative methodology to generate realistic models of hard carbon anodes that capture porous and pseudo-graphitic domains into a single 3D-connected nanostructure. Our models will allow us to systematically study Na intercalation between pseudo-graphitic layers and Na adsorption in the confined space of carbon pores, which are key to optimise the Na storage capacity. To ensure maximum impact of the gained knowledge from our theoretical studies, I will closely work with experimentalists in my host group to validate and correlate our models with experimental data and guide the experimental design of optimised anodes with high Coulombic efficiency and high capacity. This will push the performance of Na-ion batteries to active long cycles (over 10000), high energy density (above 400 Wh/kg) and high Coulombic efficiency above 96%, making them competitive with commercial Li-ion batteries and paving the way for its large-scale commercialisation.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE · LondonCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union