Scalable Sustainable Anodes for Li-ion Batteries by Structural Design - SUSTBATT

Project summary

Due to their potential to contribute to zero-emission mobility and storage of renewable energy, Lithium-ion batteries are a technological pathway to climate-change mitigation and energy sustainability. To achieve this, sustainability of battery raw materials is a must. SUSTBATT aims to produce scalable and sustainable high-capacity Si-based anodes through the cultivation of diatoms, a type of photosynthetic algae that synthesize hierarchical nanostructured SiO2 skeletons through biomineralization. With a landmark of 840 mAhg-1 after 100 cycles (at 100 mAg-1) using diatom-SiO2, this project aims to exploit the full potential of diatom feedstock by adjusting Si/SiO2 ratio in SiOx structures. Relying on a structural design of the anodes, the main goal of SUSTBATT is to reach stable storage capacities of 1500 mAhg-1 after 1000 cycles (at 100 mAg-1) in upscaled full-cells. This will pave the way for the innovative integration of sustainably sourced feedstock into the battery technology.