Institute of High Pressure Physics

The National Science Center (NCN) has announced the results of OPUS 23 call for research projects. One of the winners in ST5 Panel (Chemical Synthesis and Materials Science), position No. 1, is the Project 'Pressurized Glassy Materials for Innovative Energy Storage and Conversion'. The leader is prof. Sylwester J. Rzoska (IHPP PAS, NL10: X-PressMatter Lab), and the Partner: prof. Jerzy E. Garbarczyk (Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Physics: WUT). It is a 4-year Project with a total value of 1,837,564  PLN:  1,344,440 PLN for IHPP PAS, and 493,124  PLN for WUT.

Nowadays, Energy is the key word describing the grand challenge faced by modern civilization, related to the requirement of the rapid resignation from coal, gas, or oil as energy resources. It caused an unprecedented Global Economic and Social Crisis.

The only way to overcome this grand problem seems to be the rapid development and implementation of breakthrough innovations.

One of such innovative answer can be the discovery,  by the team (IHPP PAS + WUT), of high-pressure (HP) and temperature (HT) formed 'glass' electrodes (cathodes). They can be considered the base for a new generation of batteries, fuel cells, or hydrogen production devices. Preliminary studies [1-3] have shown that HP-HT formation can strongly increase the electric conductivity of cathodes, and it is preserved after decompressing. Such characterization is essential for applications. For the standard behavior, high-pressure changes disappear after decompressing, and pressure reduces the conductivity.

In preliminary studies, the best result was obtained in the amorphous material where instead of lithium (Li), sodium (Na) was used, i.e., a cheap and widely available material. Hence, the Project can also indicate an ‘innovative way’ to terminate the  ‘lithium search fever' [3].

What is the uniqueness of 'glass electrodes'? The answer: the hypothetically unlimited durability. An innovative battery based on 'glass' electrodes should not lose its qualities after several years,  particularly if it contains a 'glassy electrolyte', which is also the subject of the Project.

Thus, the Project may open the opportunity to design & build 'glassy' batteries of extraordinary durability. Such a device can qualitatively change the role of Renewable Energy Sources, which final success requires local, cheap, and durable energy storage. Extremely durable ‘glassy’ batteries can be alos essential for opinions on 'electric' cars. The still ‘average enthusiasm’ for such vehicles is primarily related to high battery costs matched with the limited durability.

The Project deals with the Polish discovery by IHPP PAS and WUT teams. It was possible thanks to world-unique HP-HT and high-volume processors operated in prof. Michał Boćkowski (IHPP PAS) laboratory. The project's primary target is fundamental insight, which is the essential step for designing pilot-scale devices.  Notable that in the given case, the route 'from fundamentals to applications’ can be relatively short due to the HP-HT large volume processors enabling the transformation of even large-size elements.

Regarding applications, they require interest from the business, which we hope for.

Temperature dependences of electric conductivity for homo-composite 'glassy' electrodes:
LiFe0.75 V0.10 PO4 (squares) [1] and NaFePO4 (circles) [3], in the Arrhenius scale. The arrows show the qualitative increase in conductivity after HP-HT annealing, compared to the classical HT process. The violet arrow is for the 'lithium' and the red one for'sodium' electrode. HP-HT formation is also associated with the beneficial reduction in activation energy. The 'formation’ requires temperatures in the range of 400 - 600 oC and pressures of 1 - 2 GPa.

1.    Baranowski, P.; Starzonek, S.; Drozd-Rzoska, A.; Rzoska, S. J.; Bockowski. M.; Keblinski, P.; Pietrzak, T. K.; Garbarczyk, J. E. (2019). Multifold pressure-induced increase of electric conductivity in LiFe0.75V0.10PO4 glass. Scientific Reports 9, 16607.
2.    Drozd-Rzoska, A.; Starzonek, S.; Rzoska, S. J.; Bockowski, M.; Garbarczyk, J. E. (2022). Pressure evolution of glass transition temperature in LiFePO4. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 13, 7269–7272.
3.    Szpakiewicz-Szatan, A.; Starzonek; S., Pietrzak, T. K.;. Garbarczyk, J. E; Rzoska, S. J. Boćkowski, M. (2023). Novel high-pressure nanocomposites for cathode materials in sodium batteries. Nanomaterials 13 (1), 164.