Prize-winning expertise for large-scale power storage

Safe, low-cost and sustainable expertise for power storage has been developed on the Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Linköping University. It relies on two main breakthroughs: the manufacture of wood-based electrodes in rolled type, and a brand new sort of water-based electrolyte. The outcome has been revealed within the scientific journal Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research. The expertise has been patented and is to be commercialized by Norrköping-based spin-off firm Ligna Energy AB, which obtained the award for finest “Startup for Climate”, through the latest COP26 assembly in Glasgow.

An rising share of renewable energy within the power combine and rising consumption of electrical energy in society are inflicting main challenges for balancing energy provide networks. In precept, electrical energy is consumed on the instantaneous of its manufacturing, and there are at the moment restricted choices for storing giant quantities of electrical energy. The drawback is especially acute throughout chilly durations, when the demand for electrical energy is highest. Imbalance within the grid may cause critical energy outages.

Professor Xavier Crispin and his colleagues on the Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Linköping University, have developed an idea for large-scale energy storage that’s secure, low-cost and sustainable. The potential energy output is sufficiently excessive for the expertise to keep up energy steadiness within the electrical energy provide.

“Our results allow for safe, environmentally sustainable organic energy storage with high power density, 5 kW/kg, where the electrodes are manufactured from wood-based material in a printing press. We must, however, increase the energy density: our organic batteries are better than normal supercapacitors, and have about the same performance as lead-acid batteries. But lithium-ion batteries are better”, says Crispin.

Previous makes an attempt to develop a sustainable system for power storage based mostly on low-cost natural and water-based electrolytes with carbon-based electrodes have all had issues with fast self-discharge: it has been troublesome to realize a couple of day.

The wonderful outcomes offered within the article are based mostly on two breakthroughs: a brand new sort of water-based electrolyte, and electrodes constructed from lignin, which is a available, low-cost by-product from the manufacture of paper. The researchers have developed a polyelectrolyte that consists of a extremely concentrated water-based polymer, potassium polyacrylate, along with biopolymer lignin (as constructive electrode) and polyimide combined with conductive carbon (as detrimental electrode). 

“The voltage drop, which measures the self-discharge, is less than 0.5 V in 100 hours, which is a world record for energy storage with organic electrodes in water-based electrolytes”, says Crispin.

The new expertise makes use of low-cost uncooked supplies: neither lignin, carbon nor the polyelectrolyte value extra that 1 USD/kg. These are available and non-flammable supplies, and the expertise might be scaled as much as giant batteries. It is a sustainable answer for large-scale and secure power storage.

The analysis appeared in Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research.