International Conference on Battery and Fuel Cell Technology December 08-09, 2016 Dubai, UAE

Biography:

Jolanta Swiatowska is a Research Associate (CR, HDR) at CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) in the Institut de Recherche de Chimie Paris, Chimie Paris Tech, France. She obtained her PhD degree in 2003 from AGH University of Science and Technology in Poland. Her research areas lie in physical chemistry of surfaces, surface treatments, corrosion mechanisms/protection, thin films, electrochemistry, and conversion and energy storage with emphasis on batteries (lithium-ion batteries). In her research she combines the in situ electrochemical techniques with advanced surface analytical methods such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry and atomic force microscopy. She has published more than 60 papers in scientific journals, books and conference proceedings and is the co-author of over 100 international and national conference presentations. She is also working as an expert for the European Commission, French National Research Agency (ANR) and Research Foundation Flanders (FWO).

Abstract:

Understanding the electrode processes occurring at the electrode/electrolyte interface and in the bulk electrode material is necessary for development of high energy density batteries (lithium-ion, sodium-ion or sulfur batteries) for portable and transport applications. The main electrode processes in Li-ion batteries (LIB) are insertion/extraction reactions that induce changes in the positive and negative electrode materials. These reactions are accompanied by decomposition of electrolyte that leads to formation of passive layer. The passive layer formed on the negative electrode material, widely known as a solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer, strongly influences the battery performance and cycle life. Much thinner passive layer named as a solid permeable interphase (SPI) layer, can be formed on the positive electrode material. The mechanism of electrode passivation is even more complicated if the electrode material is not stable during the process of lithiation/delithiation and cycling and undergoes the volume changes expansion/shrinkage. The strong electrode modifications occur in the case of new, high capacity alloying or conversion-type electrode materials, such as Si-based or transition metal oxide/sulfide-base materials, respectively. To have a better insight into these different reactions induced by electrochemical processes the advanced surface-sensitive techniques: X–ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) are particularly suitable for characterization of electrode materials. Apart the chemical composition of the surface SEI layer, a dynamic increase/decrease of SEI upon lithiation/delithiation, and the irreversible chemical and volume modifications of electrode materials upon cycling evidenced by ToF-SIMS ion depth profiles will be discussed. Using ToF-SIMS ion depth concentration profiles the ionic transport properties of different electrode materials can be estimated. The ionic transport of Li can be limited by Li trapping in the bulk of electrode material, at the interfaces, formation and growth of the SEI layer.

Biography:

María José Lavorante is the Head Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Engineering University Escuela Superior Técnica Grl Manuel N Savio. She is an active Researcher of the Scientific and Technical Research and Development Institute for Defense, Argentina. She has participated in several international congresses of materials, renewable energy and PEM fuel cells. She is pursuing PhD in relation to alkaline water electrolyzers. She has published more than 10 papers in reputed journals over the last 3 years and has been serving as an Editorial Board Member.

Abstract:

The analytical development of an equation that allows representing the general behavior of electrochemical cells and its direct application are presented in this work. In particular, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEM) were analyzed. The equation accuracy was tested by contrasting with the experimental results obtained from the discharged slopes of PEM fuel cells constructed in the Research and Development Department of Renewable Energy (DIDER) and other technologies of fuel cells, although in those particular cases, the results were taken from bibliography. The proposed equation rises from a statement made by van Rysselbergue for electrolytic cells that work as power supply and around which an electrical current moves out of equilibrium. Considering the fuel cells developed in our laboratory, results of stacks of 5, 6 and 12 were analyzed. The proposed equation Pr = Ir (2-Ir) makes it clear that the relative power (Pr) is a quadratic function of the relative current (Ir) and shows a correlation coefficient close to 0.99 with respect to the experimental results of the prototypes.

Biography:

Kai Feng has completed his PhD from Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is an Engineer in the Division of Energy Storage of Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has published more than 20 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as a reviewer of repute. His interests focus on the structure-properties, relationship of lithium ion batteries and cathode materials.

Abstract:

Li₃V₂ (PO₄)₃ (LVP) is a potential cathode for advanced lithium ion batteries. However, its electrochemical performance is limited by the poor electronic conductivity. Ion doping is an effective method for improving electronic conductivity. Ion doping at different sites were explored. Bi doped and B doped LVP were synthesized via a sol-gel method. All the samples remain the crystal structure of LVP. Li₃V₂ (P_0.97B_0.03O₄)₃/C and Li₃V_1.97Bi_0.03 (PO₄)₃/C deliver excellent electrochemical performances, such as specific capacity, stability and rate performances. The excellent electrochemical performance can be attributed to its larger Li ion diffusion, smaller particle size, higher structural stability and electronic conductivity induced by ion doping. LiTi₂ (PO₄)₃ (LTP) is a candidate anode for aqueous lithium ion batteries. Its electrochemical performance is also limited by its low electronic conductivity. The first anion ion doped LTP was studied here. We successfully synthesized a series of F-doped LiTi₂ (PO₄)_3-xF_x(x=0, 0.06, 0.12, 0.18) /C nanoparticles samples by sol-gel method. F doping improves the discharge voltage platform and structure stability, reduces the particle size and band gap. As a result, the rate and cycle stability are enhanced obviously.

Biography:

Qiong Zheng has completed her PhD from Dalian University of Technology and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). She is currently a Post-doctor in the Division of Energy Storage in DICP, CAS. Her research interests focus on the key materials of sodium ion batteries and structure design and numerical simulation of flow batteries. She is also responsible for the battery performance evaluation and the standardization work on flow batteries.

Abstract:

A facile synthesis of nanoscale laminated Na₃V₂ (PO₄)₃ for high performance sodium ion battery cathode is firstly proposed. In the synthesis process, a crystallized intermediate precursor with low cost raw materials is prepared by introducing a high temperature melton-state NH₃ thermal reduction process, which acts as a reaction template to control the crystal growth and the morphology of the final product-Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃ (X-NVP). The synthesized nanoscale laminated structure of X-NVP cathode shows high discharge specific capacity and decent rate performance. At low rate of 0.5C, the discharge specific capacity is in the proximity of 117mAh g^-1, which is very close to its theoretical specific capacity (117.6 mAh g^-1), and there is only a very small capacity fade after 250 cycles at 2C. Even at 50C, the discharge specific capacity is higher than 80 mAh g^-1 and the reversible capacity retention after 3000 cycles keeps higher than 78%. The intermediate precursor prepared by the high temperature melton-state thermal reduction method, acting as the reaction template of the final product, provides a solution for the synthesis of high-performance sodium ion battery cathode materials with excellent crystallinity and homogeneous nanoscale laminated structure.

Biography:

Jens Noack studied Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft in Dresden. Since 2007, he has worked at the Fraunhofer Institut für Chemische Technologie in the Department of Applied Electrochemistry, mainly on the development of redox-flow batteries. From 2009 until 2011, he was acting group leader of the newly formed redox-flow battery group. Since 2011, he has been carrying out PhD research at the Karlsruhe Institut für Technologie (KIT). He also works at the Fraunhofer ICT as Project Leader and Senior Development Engineer. His research is concerned with energy storage and conversion systems. He is Chairman of the German redox flow battery standardization group and member of several international standardization groups.

Abstract:

The storage of electrical energy will become a key issue with increasing amounts of fluctuating renewable energies in a grid. Different technologies are established or in development to solve the need for storage at low cost. One of the technologies is redox flow batteries which can be separately scaled in terms of power and energy. Thus leads to potentially low storage cost if the storage medium has low cost and the storage time is in the range of some hours. During this talk we will present an overview about the recent results of our ongoing research and developments of redox flow batteries from fundamental half-cell studies up to the development of a 2 MW/20MWh vanadium redox flow battery. Our focus is mainly contributed with the studies of vanadium systems, but also includes organic, hydrogen/bromine, zinc/bromine, vanadium/air and other chemistries. We studied electrochemical reaction mechanisms with different electrochemical and spectro-electrochemical methods, electrolyte properties, aging of materials, cell; stack and system behavior. Our developments focused on cost reduction of flow batteries by improved production methods and materials like carbon nanotube based and mouldable thermoplastic electrode materials, injection molded components and system optimization. Additionally we will report about a kW-class vanadium air system, a super-cap vanadium redox flow hybrid uninterruptable power supply for telecommunication and the development of a 2 MW/20MWh experimental vanadium redox flow battery for the storage of wind energy at the Fraunhofer ICT campus.

Biography:

Klemen Pirnat has completed his PhD in 2013. His research was mainly focused on grafting of electro-active organic compounds on different non-soluble carriers as a method to achieve stable cycling in Li-Organic batteries. After PhD, he continued with his work on Li-Organic batteries in the field of electro-active polymers. He has published 8 papers which are cited more than 67 times.

Abstract:

A lot of research has been recently focused on the development of new battery technologies, which would replace existing Li-ion batteries. Main research goal is to develop batteries with higher energy densities that would be at the same time produced from cheap and sustainable materials. One of the promising technologies is Li-Organic batteries. Some results on Li-Organic systems have shown capacities as high as 600mAh/g, but with limited electrochemical stability. The major problem of organic materials is their dissolution in electrolyte inside the battery, which results in large capacity losses during cycling. There are several approaches to overcome this issue: polymerization of organic molecules, use of iono-selective separators, grafting on solid support, use of solid electrolytes, use of insoluble active materials, etc. Our work has started in the field of grafting, where electroactive calixarenes were grafted on inactive carriers. However, grafting approach has also severe limitations due to addition of electrochemically inactive support that lowers the mass of active material. To minimize this effect we pursued new electrode preparation approach through use of grafted graphene nano-ribbons without any binder or additional conductive carbon (electrochemically inactive). This could improve the overall capacity of the battery. Third research direction is use of electro-active polymers that exhibit very stable capacities and we are currently focused on new polymerization procedures with purpose of obtaining higher capacities. Another advantage of organic materials is also the possibility of use in beyond Li battery systems. We have recently implemented electro-active organic polymer into the magnesium organic battery and have obtained promising results.

Biography:

P V Aravind is an Associate Professor at Delft University of Technology. He teaches courses on Thermodynamics of Energy Conversion and Fuel Cell Systems at Delft. He also teaches at TU Munich in Germany and contributes to a course at KU Leuven in Belgium. He is involved in several national, European and international energy related research projects focusing on fuel cell systems. Currently, he supervises a team of 9 PhD students, 2 Post-doctoral researchers and several MSc students. Many of his team members are involved in SOFC system development with a special focus on Gasifier-SOFC systems.

Abstract:

Gasification of coal, petro coke, biomass etc., results in the production of syngas which finds its use in many applications such as production of chemicals, electric power and heat. Electric power production using syngas is often done with the help of internal combustion engines, conventional steam power plants or gasification based combined cycle plants (with gas turbines and heat recovery steam generators). Such systems have relatively low electrical efficiencies (maximum 40-50%). An alternate approach that might be feasible on industrial scale in the future is the use of solid oxide fuel cells to produce electric power using syngas as fuel. With thermodynamic calculations, it has been shown that high electrical efficiencies around 70% might be achievable with such systems. However, there are many challenges to overcome before such systems are realized. They include, for example, the development of appropriate gas cleaning and gas processing systems to be placed between the gasifier and the solid oxide fuel cell. This paper presents a brief overview of current state of the art with gasifier-SOFC systems, their potential applications and the present day challenges. Special attention is given to potential applications in the Middle East.

Biography:

D Benouioua has completed his PhD in Electronics in 2008 from Polytechnic School of Tours University, France and Post-doctoral studies in Fuel Cells Technology from French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks, Fuel Cells system platform in Belfort since 2012 to 2014. She is currently a Researcher at EFFICACITY Institute for the Energy Transition in the City. Her main research activities include Fuel Cell systems characterization and diagnosis for automotive and stationary applications.

Abstract:

In the era of renewable and clean energies, the demand for less polluting energy generation technologies has increased rapidly. Among these technologies, the Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) receives much attention, as it can convert the hydrogen chemical energy into electricity with high efficiency, and also produce water and heat. However, to make this technology commercially viable, some challenges still remain. Especially the extension of the fuel cell lifespan and reliability are identified as major concerns in the research and industry sectors. The lifetime and reliability objectives can notably be achieved by implementing a diagnosis tool capable of high performances, whatever the stack design and the operating environment. In this context, we propose a new tool based on the investigation of singularity measurements stamped in fuel cell stack voltage signals. Indeed, measuring local singularities on voltage signals provides suitable information about the evolving dynamics of non-stationary and non-linear processes involved in fuel cell systems. In our study, two PEMFC stacks are experimented to evaluate the portability of our diagnosis tool. The first one is an 8 cell stack designed for automotive applications and manufactured by CEA LITEN, France. The second one is a 12 cell stack dedicated to stationary application (micro combined heat and power - µCHP application). It is designed and marketed by Riesaer Brennstoffzellentechnik GmbH and Inhouse Engineering GmbH, Germany. The steps of our diagnosis strategy are as follows: Two PEMFC stacks are operated under a variety of conditions (nominal, and faults i.e. more or less severe deviations from the nominal conditions) using characterization testbenches developed in lab. The deviations from the nominal conditions refer either to single fault types or to combinations of different faults; The recorded stack voltages are analyzed using a Wavelet Leader based Multifractal Analysis (WLMA) in order to identify their singularity spectra as fault signatures; A feature selection method is used to select the most relevant singularity features and to remove the redundant ones; The selected singularity features are classified using Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier according to the considered operating situations (faults and combinations of faults). The obtained results show that the proposed PEMFC diagnosis tool allows identifying simple operating failures and even more complicated situations that contain several failure types, for different stack sizes, powers and technologies for different power application environments.

Biography:

Thanganathan Uma has her expertise in Evaluation and passion in improving the health and wellbeing. She is well experienced in the field of Membrane and Fuel Cells. She got a prestigious international award AvH, Germany and JSPS, Japan during her research periods. She has excellent teaching/research skills in the area of Physical Chemistry and Materials Chemistry. Her main aim of work is to introduce a new class of materials and catalyst for energy applications.

Abstract:

Presently, an important problem for low temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFCs) operating in the temperature range 50-100°C is the short time-life of proton conducting membranes. The present research work is thus focused on the development of single cell performances at low temperatures using alternative nonfluorinated hybrid proton exchange membrane based PVA polymer, which are chemically and mechanically more stable at low temperatures and Pt/C electrodes which can result into better fuel cell performance. The polarization profiles with the relationship between current density-potential (I–V) and the power density-current density curves of the MEA consisting hybrid membrane and Pt/C catalyst analyzed at various humid conditions (50, 75 and 100% RH) with constant temperatures in the range from 40, 60, 80 and 90°C. The maximum current density of about 600 mA cm^-2 was obtained at 90°C with 100% RH. We have compared these values with commercial Nafion^® membrane and PVA based hybrid membrane electrolytes performed at low temperatures for H₂/O₂ fuel cells.

Biography:

The environmental impact caused by the production of Li-ion battery systems is often disregarded when assessing e-mobility. Nevertheless, significant impacts are associated with battery manufacturing, which gain significance when electricity from renewable sources is used for battery charging. The presentation provides a general picture of the environmental impacts associated with Li-ion battery production and the differences between existing battery chemistries in this regard. Based on a recent review of all environmental studies on lithium-ion batteries, critical aspects in the battery manufacturing process are pointed out and improvement potentials for future developments are highlighted. The consideration of different impact categories provides a broad picture of the environmental performance of common and advanced Li-ion batteries, where greenhouse-gas emissions are often less relevant than other factors like toxicity, which are often disregarded. But also the battery performance parameters have significant influence on the overall environmental picture. Over the whole lifetime of the battery, the cycle life and internal battery efficiency can influence the overall environmental performance of battery systems in the same order of magnitude as the production. With a break-down of the potential impacts to component level, the presentation also provides insights into the most critical parts of the battery and thus allows giving eco-design recommendations for future battery developments.

Abstract:

Jens Peters holds a Diploma degree (Dipl. Ing.) in Electrical Engineering (communication technologies) from the Technical University of Munich. He worked several years as R&D Engineer and Project Leader in the automotive industry (Ingolstadt, Barcelona) in the development of electronic components. After finishing his MSc in Renewable Energies and Fuel Cells at UIMP/CSIC in Madrid, he started working in the field of System Analysis of Energy Processes at Instituto IMDEA Energía, Madrid. In 2015, he finished his dissertation at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid) on “Environmental, economic and thermodynamic assessment of pyrolysis processes for the production of biofuels and biochar”. Since 2015, he is part of the research group ‘Resources, Recycling, Environment & Sustainability’ at HIU, where he is working on the modeling and assessment of novel electrochemical energy storage technologies, with a special focus on material issues and sustainability of new battery systems (eco-design).

Biography:

Jens Peters holds a Diploma degree (Dipl. Ing.) in Electrical Engineering (communication technologies) from the Technical University of Munich. He worked several years as R&D Engineer and Project Leader in the automotive industry (Ingolstadt, Barcelona) in the development of electronic components. After finishing his MSc in Renewable Energies and Fuel Cells at UIMP/CSIC in Madrid, he started working in the field of System Analysis of Energy Processes at Instituto IMDEA Energía, Madrid. In 2015, he finished his dissertation at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid) on “Environmental, economic and thermodynamic assessment of pyrolysis processes for the production of biofuels and biochar”. Since 2015, he is part of the research group ‘Resources, Recycling, Environment & Sustainability’ at HIU, where he is working on the modeling and assessment of novel electrochemical energy storage technologies, with a special focus on material issues and sustainability of new battery systems (eco-design).

Abstract:

The environmental impact caused by the production of Li-ion battery systems is often disregarded when assessing e-mobility. Nevertheless, significant impacts are associated with battery manufacturing, which gain significance when electricity from renewable sources is used for battery charging. The presentation provides a general picture of the environmental impacts associated with Li-ion battery production and the differences between existing battery chemistries in this regard. Based on a recent review of all environmental studies on lithium-ion batteries, critical aspects in the battery manufacturing process are pointed out and improvement potentials for future developments are highlighted. The consideration of different impact categories provides a broad picture of the environmental performance of common and advanced Li-ion batteries, where greenhouse-gas emissions are often less relevant than other factors like toxicity, which are often disregarded. But also the battery performance parameters have significant influence on the overall environmental picture. Over the whole lifetime of the battery, the cycle life and internal battery efficiency can influence the overall environmental performance of battery systems in the same order of magnitude as the production. With a break-down of the potential impacts to component level, the presentation also provides insights into the most critical parts of the battery and thus allows giving eco-design recommendations for future battery developments.

Biography:

Abstract: