Cell chemistry of battery systems

The demand for stationary energy storage technologies will continue to increase in the future. This cannot be covered by established storage systems alone, which is why alternative technologies must also be developed further. Aluminium ion batteries (AIB) represent a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to the lithium ion batteries currently in use due to the wide availability of aluminium, high charging and discharging currents and promising recycling options. Ionic liquids (IL) or deep eutectic solvents (DES) are used as electrolytes. Due to the electrolytes' sensitivity to hydrolysis, all work must be carried out in an N₂ glovebox in the absence of air and moisture. In order to determine the ideal composition of the electrolyte in relation to the performance of the battery, it is necessary to determine the aluminium speciation present using spectroscopic methods (including Raman and NMR spectroscopy), but also to investigate the electrochemical behaviour, e.g. to determine the electrode potential and the diffusion processes that occur as a function of the electrolyte composition.

Selected publications:

• Energy storage: aluminium instead of lithium
  U. Wunderwald, P. von Czarnecki, M. Eckert, C. Mukundan, G. Frisch, J.-F. Drillet, F. Fuhrmann and F. Jach
  Nachrichten aus der Chemie 71, 38-41 (2023) read online
• A low-cost Al-graphite battery with urea and acetamide-based electrolytes
  F. Jach, M. Wassner, M. Bamberg, E. Brendler, G. Frisch, U. Wunderwald, J. Friedrich
  ChemElectroChem 8(11), 1988-1992 (2021) read online (open access)