Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) represent the largest share of the electrical battery storage of our modern society and are considered to be a valid technology during the next twenty years for plug-in hybrid applications and electric vehicles. One issue in conversion of chemical into electrical energy is that damages such as overcharging lead to fatal composition changes and leaks outside the battery. To respond to the massive societal increasing needs battery safety issues have to evolve to overcome these limitations.
NanoTRAACES aims to develop a novel combined microchip integrable into LIBs for the detection of electrolyte failures. A new concept of sensor based on real-time leakage detection with high sensitivity of chemical changes will be fabricated. A rapid detection of battery electrolyte damage will be achieved to prevent unexpected exothermal reactions. The sensor will also be versatile to implement the concept of online chemical surveillance onto new generations of batteries.
Project funding:
EU ERA-NET and other coordination measures
Project results:
The final project report describes the research carried out in collaboration with the project partner (IS2M-CNRS). The research includes the development of a 2-D metamaterial composed of silver (gold) nanoparticles and optimized as an optical sensor using the plasmonic-photonic regime. Significant results were achieved during the project: the concept of surface lattice resonance sensors was verified, their parameters were optimized to ensure resonant response and high surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) efficiency factor for two laser wavelengths used in the measurements (532 nm and 785 nm), sensors were fabricated employing spherical or cubic silver nanoparticles, spherical gold nanoparticles, and graphene sheets. The durability of such sensors was evaluated by measuring a common analyte (2-naphthalene thiol) and further tested with lithium battery electrolyte in the liquid phase. A two-chamber sample holder was fabricated to allow recording of electrolyte leakage in the gas phase. It was found that when neatly arranged nanoparticles are transferred onto a glass substrate and coated with graphene, a more intense signal of the electrolyte components in the gas phase is recorded. As an alternative to neat structures, a new type of SERS substrate was tested, which uses periodic nanometric structures induced on the silicon surface by femtosecond laser radiation with silver nanoparticles deposited from the solution. The preparation of this type of substrate is fast and over a large area; therefore, it can be an alternative to template preparation by electron beam lithography when the conditions for matching the excitation wavelength are not essential. In cooperation with project partners, the formations of gold nanourchins were studied in detail. By comparing experimental transient absorption measurements with electromagnetic field calculations, the plasmonic properties of Au nanourchins were explained. The SERS signal amplification efficiency of gold nanourchins was investigated and explained by the geometry of the nanostructures.
Period of project implementation: 2022-09-01 - 2025-08-31
Project coordinator: The Mulhouse Materials Science Institute (IS2M)
Project partners: Kaunas University of Technology, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, Centre National D'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST)
