https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1131&context=usdoepub

A review of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells: Technology, applications,and needs on fundamental research

Although current high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have taken over the commercial rechargeable battery market, increasing concerns about limited lithium resources, high cost, and insecurity of organic electrolyte scale-up limit their further development. Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs), an alternative battery chemistry, have paved the way not only for realizing environmentally benign and safe energy storage devices but also for reducing the manufacturing costs of next-generation batteries. This Review underscores recent advances in aqueous ZIBs; these include the design of a highly reversible Zn anode, optimization of the electrolyte, and a wide range of cathode materials and their energy storage mechanisms. We also present recent advanced techniques that aim at overcoming the current issues in aqueous ZIB systems. This Review on the future perspectives and research directions will provide a guide for future aqueous ZIB study.

Recent Advances in Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

Power consumption is forecast by the International Technology Roadmap of Semiconductors (ITRS) to pose long-term technical challenges for the semiconductor industry. The purpose of this paper is threefold: (1) to provide an overview of strategies for powering MEMS via non-regenerative and regenerative power supplies; (2) to review the fundamentals of piezoelectric energy harvesting, along with recent advancements, and (3) to discuss future trends and applications for piezoelectric energy harvesting technology. The paper concludes with a discussion of research needs that are critical for the enhancement of piezoelectric energy harvesting devices.

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Powering MEMS portable devices—a review of non-regenerative and regenerative power supply systems with special emphasis on piezoelectric energy harvesting systems

With a worldwide trend towards the efficient use of renewable energies and the rapid expansion of the electric vehicle market, the importance of rechargeable battery technologies, particularly lithium-ion batteries, has steadily increased. In the past few years, a major breakthrough in electrolyte materials was achieved by simply increasing the salt concentration in suitable salt–solvent combinations, offering technical superiority in numerous figures of merit over alternative materials. This long-awaited, extremely simple yet effective strategy can overcome most of the remaining hurdles limiting the present lithium-ion batteries without sacrificing manufacturing efficiency, and hence its impact is now widely felt in the scientific community, with serious potential for industrial development. This Review aims to provide timely and objective information that will be valuable for designing better realistic batteries, including a multi-angle analysis of their advantages and disadvantages together with future perspectives. Emphasis is placed on the pathways to address the remaining technical and scientific issues rather than re-highlighting the many technical advantages. New electrolyte materials can offer breakthroughs in the development of next-generation batteries. Here Atsuo Yamada and colleagues review the progress made and the road ahead for salt-concentrated electrolytes, an emerging and promising electrolyte candidate.

Advances and issues in developing salt-concentrated battery electrolytes

The push towards miniaturized electronics calls for the development of miniaturized energy-storage components that can enable sustained, autonomous operation of electronic devices for applications such as wearable gadgets and wireless sensor networks. Microsupercapacitors have been targeted as a viable route for this purpose, because, though storing less energy than microbatteries, they can be charged and discharged much more rapidly and have an almost unlimited lifetime. In this Review, we discuss the progress and the prospects of integrated miniaturized supercapacitors. In particular, we discuss their power performances and emphasize the need of a three-dimensional design to boost their energy-storage capacity. This is obtainable, for example, through self-supported nanostructured electrodes. We also critically evaluate the performance metrics currently used in the literature to characterize microsupercapacitors and offer general guidelines to benchmark performances towards prospective applications.

Microsupercapacitors as miniaturized energy-storage components for on-chip electronics

Closed-loop hydrometallurgical treatment of end-of-life lithium ion batteries: Towards zero-waste process and metal recycling in advanced batteries

The paper discusses the energy storage requirements of wearable computer technology and identifies research topics for novel battery technologies. Three categories of devices with basically different battery requirements were defined. They comprise the wearable computer main unit, small devices which are distributed around the human body and active tags which enable situated and ubiquitous computing. There is a demand for small, high energy density rechargeable batteries which enable a flexible design and for very low cost thin primary batteries for smart label active lags. Prototypes of 120 /spl mu/m thick AgO-Zn batteries have been fabricated by a screen printing process. They can be directly integrated into plastic cards, smart labels and hybrid circuits.

Batteries and power supplies for wearable and ubiquitous computing

Herein we report, for the first time, an overall evaluation of commercially available battery separators to be used for aluminum batteries, revealing that most of them are not stable in the highly reactive 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride:aluminum trichloride (EMIMCl:AlCl3) electrolyte conventionally employed in rechargeable aluminum batteries. Subsequently, a novel highly stable polyacrylonitrile (PAN) separator obtained by the electrospinning technique for application in high-performance aluminum batteries has been prepared. The developed PAN separator has been fully characterized in terms of morphology, thermal stability, and air permeability, revealing its suitability as a separator for battery applications. Furthermore, extremely good compatibility and improved aluminum interface stability in the highly reactive EMIMCl:AlCl3 electrolyte were discovered. The use of the PAN separator strongly affects the aluminum dissolution/deposition process, leading to a quite homogeneous deposition compared to that of a glass fiber separator. Finally, the applicability of the PAN separator has been demonstrated in aluminum/graphite cells. The electrochemical tests evidence the full compatibility of the PAN separator in aluminum cells. Furthermore, the aluminum/graphite cells employing the PAN separator are characterized by a slightly higher delivered capacity compared to those employing glass fiber separators, confirming the superior characteristics of the PAN separator as a more reliable separator for the emerging aluminum battery technology.

Polyacrylonitrile Separator for High-Performance Aluminum Batteries with Improved Interface Stability

The rapid evolution of electronic devices since the beginning of the nanoelectronics era has brought about exceptional computational power in an ever shrinking system footprint. This has enabled among others the wealth of nomadic battery powered wireless systems (smart phones, mp3 players, GPS, …) that society currently enjoys. Emerging integration technologies enabling even smaller volumes and the associated increased functional density may bring about a new revolution in systems targeting wearable healthcare, wellness, lifestyle and industrial monitoring applications.

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Energy autonomous systems : future trends in devices, technology, and systems

Based on a compliant LTCC (low temperature co-fired ceramic) material system which allows the integration of soft magnetic NiCuZn ferrite layers in combination with Au and Ag thick film conductors, ultra low profile inductances of thickness between 200 and 400 /spl mu/m have been developed and characterized. The designs of toroidal and spiral inductors of size between 2 and 6 mm were optimized. Inductance values in a range of between 1 and 10 /spl mu/H at currents of up to 1 A and q-factors up to 30 at frequencies up to 1 MHz have been obtained. The DC resistance was between 40 and 200 mOhm depending on the number of windings. Inductance values and q-factors were measured as function of frequency, DC-bias and AC current. These inductors can be used for DC-DC converters for portable electronics or micro systems where the device height is of major concern.

Robert Hahn

Papers

Closed-loop hydrometallurgical treatment of end-of-life lithium ion batteries: Towards zero-waste process and metal recycling in advanced batteries

Batteries and power supplies for wearable and ubiquitous computing

Polyacrylonitrile Separator for High-Performance Aluminum Batteries with Improved Interface Stability

Energy autonomous systems : future trends in devices, technology, and systems

Low profile power inductors based on ferromagnetic LTCC technology