Recent Advances in the Unconventional Design of Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion Devices

Senthil Velan Venkatesan; Arpita Nandy; Kunal Karan; Stephen R. Larter; Venkataraman Thangadurai

doi:10.1007/s41918-022-00162-6

Electrochemical Energy Reviews ›› 2022, Vol. 5 ›› Issue (4) DOI: 10.1007/s41918-022-00162-6

Review Article

Recent Advances in the Unconventional Design of Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion Devices

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¹Department of Chemistry, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, T2N1N4, Calgary, AB, Canada

²Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, T2N1N4, Calgary, AB, Canada

³Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, T2N1N4, Calgary, AB, Canada

^e vthangad@ucalgary.ca

Senthil Velan Venkatesan

obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Madras and Anna University respectively. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from Simon Fraser University, Canada in the field of fuel cell materials degradation under the supervision of Profs. Kjeang and Holdcroft. He received many awards and accolades during his academic journey including the best out-going student, three graduate fellowship awards, ECS and the Department of Graduate Studies (DGS) travel grants. His postdoctoral research at the University of Calgary, Calgary, under the supervision of Dr. Thangadurai focused on unconventional approaches for energy harvesting and storage.

Arpita Nandy

joined as a postdoctoral fellow in the Thangadurai group in 2018, where she focused on bio-electrochemical remediation of wastewater and crude organics. She worked on optimization parameters of the microbial fuel cell during her doctoral research at the University of Calcutta, India. She obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in microbiology and is a university rank holder at the Master’s level. She received several awards and accolades for Ph.D. and post-doctoral research. She is enthusiastic about understanding the electrochemical phenomena mediated by the microbial community.

Kunal Karan’s

academic career began in 2001 with a faculty appointment to the Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, where he was introduced to the field of fuel cells. His early contributions to the area were in computational modeling and experimental characterization of the complex structure and coupled reaction-transport problems in the catalyst layers. In 2012, he moved to the University of Calgary, where he holds the rank of professor. His current research program amalgamates nanomaterials, conducting polymers, thin films, and interfacial science with an aim to rationally design the electrodes of electrochemical energy storage/conversion and sensing devices. In 2018, he co-chaired the Gordon Research Conference on Fuel Cells.

Stephen R. Larter

is a Canada Research Chair and a professor of petroleum geology in the Department of Geosciences as well as Associate Vice President (research innovation) at the University of Calgary. Dr. Larter worked in R&D in the oil and gas industry and also at the Universities of Oslo, Newcastle, and Calgary. His research has focused on organic and petroleum geochemistry and more recently on studies of the deep subsurface biosphere, where his work helped define microbial processes in oilfields and the base of the deep crustal biosphere. He has also worked on transition technologies for zero-emission energy recovery.

Venkataraman Thangadurai

is a full professor of chemistry at the University of Calgary. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK. His work in Calgary has resulted in the discovery of a wide range of novel ceramic, proton-conducting and oxide ion-conducting electrodes and electrolytes for all-solid-state Li batteries, SOFCs, SOECs, and gas sensors, making materials that display high conductivities at low temperatures and function well in impure fuels. In 2016, he received the prestigious Keith Laidler Award from the Canadian Society of Chemistry for his outstanding contributions to physical chemistry. In 2020, he has been elected as a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society (ECS). His current research activities include developing novel solid electrolytes and electrodes for advanced SOFCs, SOECs, all-solid-state batteries, and gas sensors.

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Abstract

As the world works to move away from traditional energy sources, effective efficient energy storage devices have become a key factor for success. The emergence of unconventional electrochemical energy storage devices, including hybrid batteries, hybrid redox flow cells and bacterial batteries, is part of the solution. These alternative electrochemical cell configurations provide materials and operating condition flexibility while offering high-energy conversion efficiency and modularity of design-to-design devices. The power of these diverse devices ranges from a few milliwatts to several megawatts. Manufacturing durable electronic and point-of-care devices is possible due to the development of all-solid-state batteries with efficient electrodes for long cycling and high energy density. New batteries made of earth-abundant metal ions are approaching the capacity of lithium-ion batteries. Costs are being reduced with the advent of flow batteries with engineered redox molecules for high energy density and membrane-free power generating electrochemical cells, which utilize liquid dynamics and interfaces (solid, liquid, and gaseous) for electrolyte separation. These batteries support electrode regeneration strategies for chemical and bio-batteries reducing battery energy costs. Other batteries have different benefits, e.g., carbon-neutral Li-CO₂ batteries consume CO₂ and generate power, offering dual-purpose energy storage and carbon sequestration. This work considers the recent technological advances of energy storage devices. Their transition from conventional to unconventional battery designs is examined to identify operational flexibilities, overall energy storage/conversion efficiency and application compatibility. Finally, a list of facilities for large-scale deployment of major electrochemical energy storage routes is provided.

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Senthil Velan Venkatesan, Arpita Nandy, Kunal Karan, Stephen R. Larter, Venkataraman Thangadurai. Recent Advances in the Unconventional Design of Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion Devices. Electrochemical Energy Reviews, 2022, 5(4): DOI:10.1007/s41918-022-00162-6