EU - ILLIBATT - Ionic Liquid-based Lithium Batteries

The ILLIBATT project aims to contribute to the development of safer and better performing lithium batteries that make use of solid-state electrolytes, containing non-volatile and thermally stable ionic liquids, and nano-structured anodes. These newly developed materials are expected to be useful in an extended range of different cell sizes: from small scale, e.g. micro-batteries, to very large scale, e.g., delocalized storage units (10-20kWh), and of course also for various types of electric vehicles (up to 50kWh). The ILLIBATT proposal has four key objectives: (i) development of a green and safe solid-state electrolyte chemistry based on ionic liquids and unique ionic liquid based composites with high performance; (ii) use of novel nano-structured high capacity anodes, prepared with the help of novel ionic liquids; (iii) investigation of the peculiar electrolyte properties and the specific interactions of these electrolytes with advanced commercial and self-prepared electrode (anode and cathode) materials with the goal to understand and improve the electrode and electrolyte properties and thus their interactions; and (iv) construction of rechargeable lithium cells with optimized electrode and electrolyte components. The research work in ILLIBATT aims to overcome the well-known technical problems of the present rechargeable lithium battery technology with the goal to: perform breakthrough work to position Europe as a leader in the developing field of high energy and environmentally benign and safe batteries and to maintain the leadership in the field of Ionic Liquids; develop appropriate solid electrolytes and nano-structured electrode materials which combination allows to realize true solid state lithium batteries; develop all-solid-state concept-cells operating at room temperature with: specific energy higher than 180 Wh/kg with respect to the overall weight of the cell; coulombic efficiency in average higher than 99% during cycling; cycle life of 1,000 cycles with 20% maximum loss of capacity, cycling between 100% and 0% SOC; and evaluate their integration in renewable energy sources.