Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

On October 5th, 2016, Canada ratified the Paris accord committing us to to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 1/3 below 2005 levels by 2030. Meeting this aggressive target will require deploying a substantial amount of renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar farms, over the next 13 years. Large-scale energy storage has emerged as a critical requirement for renewable energy generation, as it is necessary to buffer the problematic mismatch between naturally variable supply and consumer demand. Energy storage is essential for both these issues by buffering surges in generation and consumption. Among the many available options, zinc-air fuel cells are moving to the forefront, in large part due to the abundant and benign chemicals involved. The key insight behind the development of the zinc-air battery system is that industrial zinc production uses massive amounts of electricity in a process called electrowinning to convert naturally occurring zinc oxide (ZnO) in ore to a metal. This means that hoppers filled with zinc particles represent a substantial storage of electrical energy. Converting this zinc back to ZnO in a controlled electrochemical reactor allows the release of this energy for useful purposes. Such a cell is rechargeable using electrowinning to return the ZnO back metallic zinc.This project aims at improving the performance, reducing the cost, and extending the life of the air cathode in a zinc-air fuel cell. Together the team will develop a novel electrode structure using the latest advances in nanotechnology, then fully characterize the resultant materials in terms of structure, key properties, durability, and performance. The end user of this product is a Vancouver based startup that is trying to commercialize their zinc-air fuel cell technology for use in wind farms, solar installations, and remote off-grid locations.