EMS630U Electrochemical Engineering Assignment Example

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1. Introduction to Fundamentals of Electrochemical Engineering Assignment Sample

Batteries are units of electricity which consist of electrochemical storage cells for producing energy through redox reactions. They consist of an anode and cathode through which electric current is allowed to pass through an electrolyte. In the process of discharge, oxidation takes place in the anode which in turn releases electrons which move via an external circuit to the cathode for reduction to occur. In rechargeable batteries, this is reversible using some external voltage. The performance of the battery depends on material type, electrolyte used and design of the battery. Development in material science has made it possible to have more safer and efficient systems.

EMS630U Electrochemical Engineering Assignment Example

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Peter Jones 4 Years | MEng in Electrical Engineering

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1.1 Importance and applications of Batteries

Importance of Batteries

Batteries are very crucial in everyone’s life as they act as the main standby and storage systems for portable and independent power systems. There is a high importance in the fact that they offer portable power on demand without constantly having to be connected to an external power source. This independence is effectively applied to operate numerous appliances and systems in various fields (Fichtner et al., 2022). In the framework of sustainability, batteries enable the storage of renewable energy generated by the means of renewable energy like solar and wind.

Applications of Batteries

The uses of batteries are numerous and cut across various sectors in the economy. They are also used to drive popular household items like mobile phones, laptops, wearable devices, and remote control units. Some of the uses of batteries in the medical field include the use in pacemakers, hearing aids and portable diagnosis equipment. The battery technology is witnessing high demand in the transportation segment for electric vehicles (EVs), e-bikes, and hybrid systems to reduce greenhouse gas emission. On a larger scale, batteries are required in energy storage in smart grids as well as backup energy for emergencies or times of increased usage (Silvester et al., 2021).

2. Aim of the experiment

The objective of this experiment is to create and test a rechargeable aqueous battery using Natural Redox Active Compounds namely Riboflavin and Quercetin. The electrochemical process and reversibility of the battery is tested through charge-discharge rates and Coulombic efficiency measure of the battery efficiency as a function of time applying galvanostatic cycling and cyclic voltammetry.

3. Description of the method

Electrode Preparation

The battery electrodes were produced using riboflavin (vitamin B2) and quercetin as the active ingredients in the composite materials. Thus, each of the active materials was mixed with activated carbon in the ratio 3:7 respectively to improve the electrical conduction and surface areas. This mixture was then mixed with a polymer binder and water to get a slurry containing the filler and binder (Peng et al., 2022). This covered the carbon paper with the slurry in proper thickness to precisely attain loading of roughly 21 mg/cm². The electrodes were thereafter left in the coated solution for 2 hours to allow the solvent to evaporate at room temperature and later placed in a vacuum oven at 80°C to minimize the chances of solvent formation. To be used, the dried electrodes were manually cut into 3 cm by 3 cm squares.

Battery Assembly

To assemble the battery, one riboflavin-coated electrode (cathode) was placed at the base surrounded by a glass fibre separator infused with 1M sodium hydrogen sulphate (NaHSO₄) electrolyte. Another quercetin coated electrode (anode) was then positioned on top thus creating one cell of the device. This stack was then repeated three times in order to form a three-cell battery assembly. The pressure was applied to constrain internal cavity pressure and maintain the stability of the electrochemical connection.

Electrochemical Testing

The battery was also connected to the potentiostat through a red terminal having a positive terminal and the blue terminal being the negative. It was execute using galvanostatically at 15mA for three cycling and at a potential between 1V-3V. Subsequently, the electrochemical behavior of the sample was investigated by carrying out cyclic voltammetry for a range of 0V and 3V at a scan rate 10mV/s to determine the reversibility and the electrode reaction towards the battery’s electrochemical properties (Zhao and Burke, 2021).

4. Conclusions

It can be concluded that this test proved the feasibility of modelling and layout of a chargeable aqueous battery using evidently taking place compounds like riboflavin and quercetin. They opine for the statistics that could be useful in nurturing the power garage systems and the usage of non-risky and biodegradable resources. In order to research the electrochemical battery characteristics, and with a purpose to compare the reversibility of the battery, the test involved galvanostatic cycling and cyclic voltammetry. It also looked at the availability of the electrodes inside the test, stacking of the electrodes and the kind of electrolyte which was to be used inside the test to persuade the performance.

These points can lead to the use of the eco-friendly battery systems in fields that need safer and sustainable power supplies like in the medical, wearable devices and low power devises. Further improvements may be made in electrode materials, to improve the voltage, as well as stacking and cycling performance. Moreover, there is a suggestion that application of other natural redox materials may help enhance performance and suitableness. On a general note, this particular experiment fosters effective application of green chemistry in energy storage and paves way for future inventions in sustainable battery technologies.

5. Reference List

Journals

• Fichtner, M., Edström, K., Ayerbe, E., Berecibar, M., Bhowmik, A., Castelli, I.E., Clark, S., Dominko, R., Erakca, M., Franco, A.A. and Grimaud, A., 2022. Rechargeable batteries of the future—the state of the art from a BATTERY 2030+ perspective. Advanced Energy Materials, 12(17), p.2102904.
• Peng, J., Zhang, W., Liu, Q., Wang, J., Chou, S., Liu, H. and Dou, S., 2022. Prussian blue analogues for sodium‐ion batteries: past, present, and future. Advanced Materials, 34(15), p.2108384.
• Silvester, D.S., Jamil, R., Doblinger, S., Zhang, Y., Atkin, R. and Li, H., 2021. Electrical double layer structure in ionic liquids and its importance for supercapacitor, battery, sensing, and lubrication applications. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 125(25), pp.13707-13720.
• Xin, S., Zhang, X., Wang, L., Yu, H., Chang, X., Zhao, Y.M., Meng, Q., Xu, P., Zhao, C.Z., Chen, J. and Lu, H., 2024. Roadmap for rechargeable batteries: present and beyond. Science China Chemistry, 67(1), pp.13-42.
• Xing, J., Bliznakov, S., Bonville, L., Oljaca, M. and Maric, R., 2022. A review of nonaqueous electrolytes, binders, and separators for lithium-ion batteries. Electrochemical Energy Reviews, 5(4), p.14.
• Zhao, J. and Burke, A.F., 2021. Electrochemical capacitors: performance metrics and evaluation by testing and analysis. Advanced Energy Materials, 11(1), p.2002192.