RESUMO
In this work, the analysis of environmental performance and its coherence with circular economy priorities of different variants of Al-ion battery construction was performed. Al-ion-based batteries can be considered as one of the future alternatives for currently used Li-ion-based cells when the shortage of lithium or cobalt becomes a challenge. All tested batteries were constructed with Al anodes, polypropylene foil separator, polyvinylidene fluoride + N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (PVDF+NMP) binder, Al collector and laminated Al foil pouch cell. WO3, Norit and carbon from potato starch (CPS) were used as a cathode material. Saturated solutions of AlCl3 dissolved in diethylene glycol dimethyl ether (DEG) and deep eutectic solvents (DES) originating from bacterial polymer polyhydroxyalkanoate were used as electrolytes. The ReCiPe impact assessment method was used in this analysis. The indicator in this study was ReCiPe Endpoint (H) V1.07 referring to Europe. SimaPro 9.4 software with Ecoinvent 3.8 inventory database were used for all calculations. The analysis included experimental production and assembly of batteries and their end-of-life processing. Based on the performed analysis it was found that the overall weighted impact of each single construction variant of an Al-ion battery is dominated by the use of electricity, no matter which variant is considered since it is related to the electricity mix in Poland and its high dependence on fossil fuels. Overall environmental impact is the smallest for CPS DEG battery, while Norit DEG and CPS DEG variants have slightly higher impacts. The share of end-of-life processing in overall environmental impacts of all analysed variants was found low compared to the Li-ion batteries. This observation indicates the Al-ion batteries as a promising direction of alternative electrochemical devices for energy storage systems while end-of-life processing and circular solution are concerned.
RESUMO
Comparative studies were performed on variations in the ABO3 perovskite structure, chemical stability in a CO2-H2 gas atmosphere, and electrical conductivity measurements in air, hydrogen, and humidity-involving gas atmospheres of monophase orthorhombic Ba1-xSrxCe0.9Y0.1O3-δ samples, where 0 < x < 0.1. The substitution of strontium with barium resulting in Ba1-xSrxCe0.9Y0.1O3-δ led to an increase in the specific free volume and global instability index when compared to BaCe0.9Y0.1O3-δ. Reductions in the tolerance factor and cell volume were found with increases in the value of x in Ba1-xSrxCe0.9Y0.1O3-δ. Based on the thermogravimetric studies performed for Ba1-xSrxCe0.9Y0.1O3-δ, where 0 < x < 0.1, it was found that modified samples of this type exhibited superior chemical resistance in a CO2 gas atmosphere when compared to BaCe0.9Y0.1O3-δ. The application of broadband impedance spectroscopy enabled the determination of the bulk and grain boundary conductivity of Ba1-xSrxCe0.9Y0.1O3-δ samples within the temperature range 25-730 °C. It was found that Ba0.98Sr0.02Ce0.9Y0.1O3-δ exhibited a slightly higher grain interior and grain boundary conductivity when compared to BaCe0.9Y0.1O3-δ. The Ba0.95Sr0.05Ce0.9Y0.1O3-δ sample also exhibited improved electrical conductivity in hydrogen gas atmospheres or atmospheres involving humidity. The greater chemical resistance of Ba1-xSrxCe0.9Y0.1O3-δ, where x = 0.02 or 0.05, in a CO2 gas atmosphere is desirable for application in proton ceramic fuel cells supplied by rich hydrogen processing gases.