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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/R041822/1
Title: Bioinspired green manufacturing of next generation energy storage materials
Principal Investigator: Patwardhan, Professor SV
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Chemical & Biological Engineering
Organisation: University of Sheffield
Scheme: Standard Research - NR1
Starts: 15 April 2018 Ends: 31 March 2020 Value (£): 165,059
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Catalysis & Applied Catalysis Energy Storage
Materials Synthesis & Growth
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Energy
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
The ubiquity of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in portable electronic devices have led to an enormous volume of research on materials promising improved performance characteristics. Whether in terms of the amount of energy they can deliver, their operating lifetime or overall cost, there are pressing demands for the development of improved functional materials. In particular, Li-Ni-Co-Mn-oxides are attractive cathode materials due to their high achievable specific capacity and good long-term performance; they are also commercialised and widely used in the battery market. However, their synthesis typically requires extreme temperatures over long duration, contributing the vast majority of the energy costs. Furthermore, their manufacture is wasteful and is unsustainable. Hence the use of more sustainable synthesis routes has the potential to drastically reduce this expense.

Learning from biology, we aim to discover new bioinspired routes to produce energy storage materials. These methods will need lower temperatures, leading to reduced energy demands, and allow for superior control of materials properties on the nanoscale. This is a radically new approach, which has never been applied to energy storage materials.

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Organisation Website: http://www.shef.ac.uk