With an increasing level of renewable electricity generation there is a requirement for electro-chemical storage incorporated into the grid to minimise costs and decrease the amount of fossil fuels needed to balance electricity supply and demand. Currently lithium ion batteries, which have been designed for portable applications have not been optimised for fixed applications where weight and density of the battery are not as critical as cost effective storage. The NoRESt fellowship is based at Swansea University leading a team working on new manufacturing processes for energy storage applications, within the Materials Engineering department. Swansea University is undertaking internationally leading research within the field of processing of materials for energy application through the SPECIFIC IKC. The NoRESt fellowship will develop novel processing methods for the production of solid state batteries, for the application of fixed energy storage, to improve their energy storage performance by reducing inter-facial resistances. This will be achieved by developing active solid electrolyte pastes which can be printed and co-sintered onto the battery anodes. Prior efforts in this field have primarily focused on new chemistry for the active battery components rather than processing methods. By combining new chemistry with novel processing this fellowship will take advantage of advances in the field of solid state printed photovoltaics and apply them to the field of electro-chemical storage. Solid state sodium batteries will have the following advantages over liquid lithium ion batteries: - Lower cost - No cobalt or lithium used in manufacture - reducing reliance on single production locations - Reduced environmental impact of the battery production. - Lower recycling costs - Reduced fire risks (during waste processing and in use) By supporting a greater proportion of renewable electricity generations fixed storage batteries will reduce energy costs and help to meet the UK targets for limiting the catastrophic affects of climate change. This research will support complementary research in battery chemistry by providing an alternative architecture and method of manufacture. The environmental cost of production will also be analysed during this fellowship, ensuring that energy storage is developed with the smallest environmental footprint possible, with materials and processes with high environmental impact highlighted for further research to develop alternatives. Alongside materials manufacture and processing end of life will be considered in order to understand and mitigate early in the development process the impacts of end of life. Alongside developing novel processing methods the environmental, cost and performances of these batteries will be bench-marked against current (lithium ion) and other emerging technologies (salt-water batteries, flow cells and modern NiFe). Demonstrators will be manufactured before the end of the fellowship and be tested within zero carbon buildings built as part of the SPECFIC IKC project, this will accelerate the commercialisation of this project.

When devices such as computers, smart phones and batteries are sent for recycling not all of the materials are captured for use in new devices. The metals are most likely to be recycled because they are easy to separate and their methods of recycling are well established. Specialist coatings often made with rare and expensive materials enable our modern electronics to work. However these coatings often cause problems when it comes to recycling, they can mean that the metals are more contaminated and so these coatings are often burnt off, causing pollution and adding cost to the recycling process. It also means that the expensive cleverly engineered coating has been lost and its value not realised. TReFCo aims to develop a low cost method for removing these coatings so that they can be reused to make new devices. This will have multiple benefits; it will mean that valuable raw materials are kept within the supply chain, supporting the UK economy. It will also mean that the materials that they were coated on are cleaner prior to their recycling process ensuring a purer recycled product at a lower cost. The method employed by TReFCo will be to subject the coatings to near infrared radiation to burn the binder (glue) that holds the coating in place without damaging the coating material or the substrate material. TReFCo will also develop new adhesives that will 'unglue' when exposed to near infrared radiation, making it easier (and cheaper) to take devices apart before they are recycled. This could also be used within a repair process. In addition to the technical developments during the project a lifecycle analysis will be undertaken - this will ensure that researchers fully understand the environmental costs of producing materials and recycling them. Identifying any areas that are environmentally damaging in order that they can be avoided by material design or by changing the processing methods. In all the aim of the project is to make the possibility of a truly circular economy one step closer to being a reality.