Titirici Group at Pint of Science

WASTE & FUELS OF THE FUTURE

How can we transition to a net-zero green economy? How do we create energy resources from waste materials? And how can these energy resources reinforce the circular economy?

Titirici group’s ambition is to recycle bio and plastic waste into advanced materials which are components of future batteries and fuel cells.

Professor Magda Titirici discussed what the sustainable solutions are for the next generation of energy storage and conversion technologies. It was exciting to see our research through the eyes of some very talented young artists and advocating for the urgency of developing and implementing sustainable technologies to save the planet.

Kavli Medal and Lecture 2022 given by Professor Magda Titirici

GREENBAT meets GREENCAT: towards delivering truly sustainable energy storage and conversion technologies

Professor Titirici’s research group and collaborators are working towards addressing this important challenge of creating sustainable materials based on widely available resources while creating a circular economy of recycling biowaste into advanced materials and implementing them in sustainable energy technologies, from new battery chemistries to important catalytic processes using renewable electricity for H2 production and use.

Watch the record here:

New Publication on Techno Economic and Lifecycle Analysis

Techno Economic and Lifecycle Analysis of Biomass Derived Anode Materials for Lithium and Sodium Ion Batteries Advanced Sustainable Systems!

This research examines the techno-economic and environmental performance of SIBs, using a “cradle-to-gate” life cycle assessment of cell manufacturing, comparing sodium-ion half cells (coin cells) with their lithium counterparts. An optimal charge capacity of 312.4 mAh g−1 for sodium-ion half-cells has been achieved using glucose-derived hard-carbons, a 45% charge capacity increase compared to lithium. Sodium half-cells are shown to be 18% cheaper compared to lithium. From the life cycle analysis, it is found that sodium-ion half-cells show the lowest environmental footprint across all impact categories compared to lithium. It can be concluded that sodium is a credible alternative to LIBs with a preference for SIBs when environmental factors are jointly considered with techno-economics.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adsu.202200047

Congratulations to Dr Alian Li for winning the IMSE multidisciplinary award!

Big congratulations to Dr Alian Li for winning the IMSE multidisciplinary award at the Chemical Engineering Department Postdoc Symposium!

Congratulations to Dr Maria Crespo on wining the Institute for Molecular Science and Engineering (IMSE) 2022 seed funding competition.

IMSE is funding a seed project by Dr Maria Crespo at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Dr Aigerim Omirkhan and Dr Ieuan Seymour at the Department of Materials to upcycle waste PET into battery anodes. Dr Crespo is using anodes made of an upcycled carbon-tin composite to develop the next-generation of fast-charging battery systems, which are based on sodium rather than lithium cells.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/235296/funding-interdisciplinary-projects-solve-todays-grand/

Congratulations to Dr. Heather Au for wining the Sir William Wakeham award

Sir William Wakeham award recognises early career researchers who have made a significant contribution to their research field and have advanced their professional development.

Big congratulations to Heather Au!

New Publication on Screening Heteroatom Configurations for Reversible Sloping Capacity Promises High-Power Na-Ion Batteries

Heteroatom doping has been proved to effectively enhance the sloping capacity, nevertheless, the high sloping capacity almost encounters a conflict with the disappointing initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE). Herein, we propose a heteroatom configuration screening strategy by introducing a secondary carbonization process for the phosphate-treated carbons to remove the irreversible heteroatom configurations but with the reversible ones and free radicals remained, achieving a simultaneity between the high sloping capacity and ICE (~250 mAh g-1 and 80%). The Na storage mechanism was also studied based on this “slope-dominated” carbon to revealed the reason of the absence of the plateau. This work could inspire to distinguish and filter the irreversible heteroatom configurations and facilitate the future design of practical “slope-dominated” carbon anodes towards high-power Na-ion batteries.

Click here for the full paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ange.202116394

New Publication on Ice-Templated, Sustainable Carbon Aerogels with Hierarchically Tailored Channels for Sodium- and Potassium-Ion Batteries

A novel controllable ice-templating strategy is utilized to tailor low-cost cellulose nanocrystal/polyethylene oxide-derived, vertically aligned carbon aerogels (VCAs) as anodes of sodium- and potassium-ion batteries. The construction of hierarchically tailored channels is tuned for shortening ion-transport pathways and ensuring structural integrity. These sustainable VCAs can be easily extended to multiple energy storage systems, demonstrating their universal potential.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adfm.202110862

New Publication on Dual-Metal Atom Electrocatalysts

Electrochemical clean energy conversion and the production of sustainable chemicals are critical in the journey to realizing a truly sustainable society. To progress electrochemical storage and conversion devices to commercialization, improving the electrocatalyst performance and cost are of utmost importance. Research into dual-metal atom catalysts (DACs) is rising in prominence due to the advantages of these sites over single-metal atom catalysts (SACs), such as breaking scaling relationships for the adsorption energy of reaction intermediates and synergistic effects. This review provides an examination of the fundamental theoretical principles and experimental electrochemical performance of DACs in idealized half cells, as well as fuel cells, before proceeding to analyze the methods used for producing and identifying DACs. Current challenges and potential future research directions of DACs are also discussed.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aenm.202102715

COP26 has begun! Professor Magda Titirici discussed 'Beyond Lithium Ion Batteries'.

In the run up to COP26, Royal Society of Chemistry convened a series of events on chemical science’s role in tackling sustainability and climate change challenges, exploring opportunities and inspirational stories from across the global chemical science community, including many speakers from the Faraday Institution, the UK's flagship battery research programme.

Professor Titirici joined the discussion on beyond lithium ion batteries, covering the cutting edge chemistry underlying next generation battery innovations, their potential, their limitations and their pathways to mass adoption.

Watch the recording here!

Here is the whole series of Chemistry and COP26 events on RSC.

Professor Magda Titirici has been recognised with the Kavli Medal and Lecture by the Royal Society.

The Kavli Medal and Lecture is awarded annually for excellence in all fields of science and engineering relevant to the environment. The medal is of bronze gilt and is accompanied by a gift of £1,000.

Professor Magda Titirici, Chair in Sustainable Energy Materials in the Department of Chemical Engineering, was awarded the medal for her outstanding contributions to advancing the sustainability of energy storage and conversion technologies by performing interdisciplinary research at the interface between electrochemistry, materials science and chemical engineering.

https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/awards/kavli-medal-lecture/

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/228713/imperial-academic-awarded-royal-society-medal/

kavli-magda-titirici.jpg

New Publication on Iron, Nitrogen Co-Doped Carbon Spheres as Low Cost, Scalable Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Atomically dispersed transition metal-nitrogen-carbon catalysts are emerging as low-cost electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells. However, a cost-effective and scalable synthesis strategy for these catalysts is still required, as well as a greater understanding of their mechanisms. Herein, iron, nitrogen co-doped carbon spheres (Fe@NCS) have been prepared via hydrothermal carbonization and high-temperature post carbonization. It is determined that FeN4 is the main form of iron existing in the obtained Fe@NCS. Two different precursors containing Fe2+ and Fe3+ are compared. Both chemical and structural differences have been observed in catalysts starting from Fe2+ and Fe3+ precursors. Fe2+@NCS-A (starting with Fe2+ precursor) shows better catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction. This catalyst is studied in an anion exchange membrane fuel cell. The high open-circuit voltage demonstrates the potential approach for developing high-performance, low-cost fuel cell catalysts.

https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202102974

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