Anagrafe della ricerca

This project initiative promoted by the Ministry (MUR) allows to study a non-considered aspect of the ERC project that I am coordinating. My current activity funded by the European Commission concerns the production of ammonia and fertilizers by means of an electrochemical process mediated by Li. The engineering aspects of the process, the integration with solar cells to make the electrochemical reaction powered in a renewable manner and the assembly of prototypes constitute the three pillars of the ERC project. An in-depth aspect concerns the Li metal, which constitutes the anodic electrode of the electrochemical reactor. Its high reactivity requires an adequate protection strategy to make the process and reactor safe and with controllable performance. This aspect (i.e., the protection of Li) is also at the center of an extremely driving sector of modern society, that of Li batteries. Among the various technologies proposed, today the Li-S battery is the most credible in terms of performance for electrification of mobility. The common aspect between the Li-S batteries and the electrochemical reactors of the ERC project concerns the presence of a Li metal electrode to be protected: therefore, this project (LOTUS) foresees an engineering activity of Li metal electrodes, protection and integration in laboratory prototypes. The activity will then be developed by studying on the one hand the Li-S cell (electrodes, prototypes, sustainability of the production process, recycling of components and performance analysis), on the other hand the protected Li electrodes will be used for the final part of the ERC project, trying to improve the safety and performance of the ammonia production process by electrochemical means. In one sentence, the protection of Li at the core of this project will affect the two driving sectors of today chemical and materials engineering, namely that of batteries and that of sustainable processes design.