Thermo-electrical Effects in Electrochemical Energy Storage Devices

Under this project, electrochemical energy storage devices based on inorganic 2D material electrodes will be studied for two purposes. The first part will focus on heat-to-electricity conversion.

Under a thermal gradient, the ions will thermodiffuse to the electrode and will not only form an electric-double layer at the interface, but will intercalate into the inter-layer spacings of the  electrode.

The ion intercalation into the bulk of inorganic 2D material driven by thermodiffusion will increase charge density of the Ionic Thermoelectric Supercapacitor (ITESC).

The second part will aim at studying the cooling/heating phenomenon upon electric charge/discharge in the same device.

The change in entropy/enthalpy of the solvation shell upon the intercalation of an ion from the electrolyte to the bulk of the electrode and the concomitant cooling/heating will be inestigated.

The project is divided into five work packages and will run for four years (2021-24) with the main applicant himself and a postdoc at the well-equipped facilities of Laboratory of Organic Electronics (LOE), Linköping University.

The applicant has worked on ionic media in his PhD and has acquired the expertise on layered 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs) during 2-year VR postdoc abroad.

This  independent research line will merge thermal and thermo-electric effect in electrochemical energy devices based on inorganic 2D material electrodes upon intercalation and de-intercalation of ions.