Prediction of performance and lifetime of all solid state battery composite cathodes
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MSCA-2020-AHubin01
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Beschrijving van het project
Li-ion batteries are nowadays dominating the battery market. Yet, this technology shows its limitations in terms of safety, performance and lifetime. All-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) are believed to be the key enabling technology to answer future needs. When compared to liquid electrolyte Li batteries, all-solid-state ones are safer, have longer cycle life and higher energy density. According to the EU battery technology roadmap, solid-state Li-ion batteries are expected to enter the market after 2025. Composite cathode/solid electrolyte materials play a crucial role in that www.surfgroup.be/difficulty in forming effective cathode- electrolyte interfaces and insufficient fundamental understanding of the interfacial processes during charge/discharge, hinder the ASSBs to become a commercial product. The goal of our research is to design a general methodology for performance and lifetime prediction of composite cathodes for ASSBs. Both performance and lifetime of a real cathode will depend on the choice of materials, the microstructure realized during the manufacturing process and the usage and aging conditions. The developed methodology should be capable of evaluating the influence of all of these topics in a time- and cost-efficient way. A hybrid multiscale methodology is under construction to reach the goal. It comprises a combination of experimental and modelling approaches. The experimental part has several parts: (1) production and characterization of test structures, (2) experiments to gain mechanistic insight in the occurring phenomena and to determine input parameters for the modelling, and (3) experiments for the validation of the proposed models. Also the modelling is at several levels: (1) atomistic simulations are used to define the fundamental material properties – independently of geometry and usage conditions, (2) coarse-grained molecular dynamics (CGMD) simulations are used to predict the cathode’s microstructure, based on the variables of the manufacturing process and (3) a continuum model is built for the description of the composite cathode’s behavior.
Members of the SURF group (department of Materials and Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, VUB) are eager to collaborate with Marie-Curie fellows on experimental and/or modelling activities in this context.
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Electrochemical & Surface Engineering
With a strong emphasis on durability and sustainability our focus is on the development of the next generation of high performing and multifunctional metal surfaces and their applications. Why? Because some of the key mineral resources in our economy will be exhausted in the next few years if exploited at the present rates. Because corrosion of metals is yearly costing approximately 1 to 5 percent of a nation’s GNP, based on direct costs only. Because renewable energy sources call revolutionary energy storage systems. How? By our teaching, educating the engineers of tomorrow. By our research, learning how to modify, analyze and model bulk metal surfaces (on the nanometer scale), nanoparticles and -wires in interaction with their environment. By our services to third parties, sharing our knowledge with industrial partners and societal organizations.