Electrode Materials Based on Transition Metal Compounds for Lithium Ion Battery - Acronym: TRANSBAT

In recent years, a new fundamental trend has formed in the chemical sciences, namely, the chemistry of intercalation electrode materials, which is most responsive to the global challenges of clean energy storage. The goals of this field are varied – from the design of electrode materials with desired properties to the creation of new highly efficient hybrid ion batteries. Encouraged by the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for lithium-ion batteries, the scientific challenge today is to find such a combination of intercalation compounds that will allow the construction of a battery with lower cost, higher efficiency, safety and harmlessness to environment. This is a task that requires knowledge of inorganic material science and more specifically inorganic synthesis, structural characterization and electrochemical properties.

This project proposal falls within the current and significant scientific field of energy storage by creating a new class of electrode materials based on polyanionic compounds. We present a combination approach for synergies between structural and spectroscopic techniques and methods for the preparation of lithium-manganese sulfates as an alternative to the layered oxides (e.g. LiCoO₂ and Li_1+x(Co/Ni/Mn)_1-xO₂) used in the construction of more efficient and safer lithium-ion batteries. Unlike oxides, polyanionic compounds offer an unlimited variety of structural matrices capable of reversibly and rapidly intercalating alkali ions. The scientific task is to discover these structural matrices and, last but not least, to make the resulting electrode materials more easily recyclable after use. The main objective of the project is to conduct fundamental research on the preparation and structural characterization of lithium manganese sulfates with tunneling structure and to study the mechanism of electrochemical intercalation in them. In parallel with these studies, the Chinese team will develop composite anode material based on mixed cobalt-iron oxides. As a result of the collaboration, we expect to offer an innovative combination of electrode materials in a model electrochemical cell.

The work program of the project is designed on the basis of scientific logic in carrying out a single study – from synthesis, followed by structural, morphological and spectroscopic analysis and conducting electrochemical experiments, to comprehending, analyzing and summarizing the obtained in-situ and post-mortem data. The scientific team of the project consists of students, PhD students, post-doctoral students, junior and senior researchers from leading scientific organizations in the country and abroad: Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Department of Engineering Mechanics – Dalyan University of Technology (People’s Republic of China). The project is a fundamental and in the same time interdisciplinary study aimed at acquiring new knowledge about the preparation of polyanionic electrode materials and the mechanism of lithium ion intercalation reactions in structural matrices.

The results are expected to be published in selected scientific journals with impact factor/rank of reputable publishers. The expected achievement will be scientific contributions in the field of inorganic material science and electrochemistry and a contribution to the creation and strengthening of the cooperation between the teams from Bulgaria and the People's Republic of China.