More sustainable and high-performance batteries: the ORANGEES project is underway.

ORANGEES – ORgANics for Green Electrochemical Energy Storage has started, a 4 million euro project that aims to obtain increasingly sustainable, high-performance, safe and low-cost advanced materials for a new generation of green batteries . The partnership of the involved bodies is all-Italian and sees the National Research Council ( CNR ) as the leader together with the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development ( ENEA ) , the National Inter-University Consortium for Materials Science and Technology ( INSTM ) , the Italian Institute of Technology ( IIT ) , Research on the Energy System (RSE) and Standex International Corp.

Lithium-ion batteries are currently the dominant energy storage system in the portable electronics and electric/hybrid-electric vehicle market. However, over the past decade, demand for lithium has increased rapidly, with consumption growing by 7–10% annually. In this scenario, the need to develop alternative chemical solutions to harness energy from renewable sources and develop new energy storage systems based on abundant and affordable raw materials is evident.

The project includes five research lines , three of which are dedicated to experimental activities on materials used for battery components and supercapacitors. These activities are aimed at studying new hybrid (organic/inorganic) and organic materials obtained from agri-food industry waste (casein, whey, keratin, prickly pear, and cellulose) and validating their electrochemical performance. The project’s goal is to increase the environmental sustainability of these materials by reducing the accumulation of inorganic components , such as lithium and cobalt, metals included in the EU list of 34 critical raw materials . Specifically, ENEA will be responsible for selecting waste and natural by-products, verifying their use as raw materials for producing green membranes and electrodes.

The recent roadmap on electrochemical storage systems drawn up by the European technology platform ETIP Batteries Europe Indeed, it shows how medium- to long-term evolution looks to next-generation batteries based on new operating mechanisms (conversion and solid-state systems) and alternative materials. Among the latter, organic compounds are of interest, such as those that will be developed and characterized within the ORANGEES project. ”, concludes Giulia Monteleone, director of the ENEA Department of Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources.

The most promising organic materials will be subsequently investigated through computer simulations, life cycle analysis and testing conducted in collaboration with partner Standex International Corp to verify the potential benefit in terms of final electrochemical performance. “The project aims to contribute to the achievement of the highly challenging objectives required at community level in the energy sector and implemented by Italy through the PNIEC, the National Integrated Plan for Energy and Climate, currently updated in light of recent geopolitical crises”, concluded Alessandra Di Blasi, researcher of theNicola Giordano Institute of Advanced Energy Technologies ( ITAE ) of the CNR, scientific director of ORANGEES.

Source: https://researchitaly.mur.gov.it/batterie-piu-sostenibili-e-performanti-al-via-progetto-oragnees/