Dr Arunabh Ghosh

LE STUDIUM RESEARCH FELLOW / ARD 2020 - LAVOISIER Programme

From

Tata Steel Advanced Materials Research Centre - IN

In residence at

Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Materials and Electrolytes for Energy (PCM2E) / University of Tours - FR

Host scientist

Prof. Fouad Ghamouss

Project

Design, formulation and characterisation of new safer electrolytes for electrochemical storage of energy 

Developing a novel electrolyte for supercapacitor application is not a straightforward process. Beyond having a large potential window and high ionic conductivity, there are many other requirements, such as electrochemical stability, high ionic conductivity, suitable viscosity, that an electrolyte needs to meet in order to be promising for the performance of the device. Besides these, the electrolyte must have a large liquid range temperature, which is the main deciding factor of the device’s operating temperature range.  Furthermore, the volatility and flammability of the electrolyte are the keys to deciding the safety grades of supercapacitor devices. Controlling all these parameters at the same time is what makes the development of electrolytes a very fascinating but a tricky process. Therefore, we can see that commercially available organic solvents still fail to provide an ideal solution, and they suffer from one or more following issues, like flammability, low potential window, and low operating temperature range.

In this context, we are formulating and designing a new set of electrolytes, one is based on a new organic solvent, and the other one is based on a mixture of two ionic liquids; with a strong focus on the optimization of all the required characteristics, which can potentially fulfill well-round application needs. The target is to fulfill application needs in sub-ambient temperatures, presenting good mobility, low flammability, and wide working potential window.