At a glance
- The ARC Training Centre for Future Energy Storage Technologies (StorEnergy) trains and skills the next generation of workers within the energy industry.
- Dr Anna Warrington graduated from IFM with a PhD in 2023. At StorEnergy she researched safer electrolytes for energy storage applications.
- Dr Warrington worked closely with a team of experienced synthetic chemists at Boron Molecular to synthesise new ionic electrolytes for use in sodium or lithium batteries.
Emerging renewable energy sources require reliable and safe energy storage solutions and a skilled workforce to support it. The ARC Training Centre for Future Energy Storage Technologies (StorEnergy), led by IFM’s Professor Jenny Pringle, aims to challenge existing thinking and expand Australia’s capacity in energy storage and production by training and skilling the next generation of workers in the energy industry.
In this series, we take a closer look at some of the projects that are part of StorEnergy and the people behind them.
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Organic ionic plastic crystals (OIPCs) and ionic liquids (ILs) are promising safer electrolytes for energy storage applications.
OIPCs are a type of solid-state electrolyte composed entirely of ions with the advantageous properties of non-flammability, high conductivity and the ability to form stable and highly conductive solid electrolyte interface layers in lithium cells.
The library of cations known to form OIPCs is quite small and the development of new cations is critical to advance their use as solid electrolytes. Institute for Frontier Materials PhD student, Anna Warrington worked closely with a team of experienced synthetic chemists at Boron Molecular to synthesise new ionic electrolytes for use in sodium or lithium batteries. Anna successfully synthesised several new cations with the aim of creating new OIPCs for battery electrolyte applications.
The new OIPCs expand the library of potential solid-state and liquid electrolytes for potential application in a range of different battery and separation technologies.
Boron Molecular and storEnergy research fellow Dr Federico Ferrero Vallana have since continued development of new electrolyte materials.
Anna was awarded her PhD in November 2023 and is now in Perth working on alternative energy technologies.
The development of new electrolytes is an exciting prospect and Boron Molecular is thrilled to be involved through our collaboration with storEnergy.
We get access to Deakin University’s extensive battery expertise, while the storEnergy researchers experience the fast-paced nature of working in an industrial lab, with all its benefits and challenges.
Dr Oliver Hutt CEO, Boron Molecular
About Boron Molecular
Boron Molecular is a leading specialist fine chemicals manufacturer. The company was formed around a suite of process patents on boronic acids, which were originally developed by CSIRO. The company’s core business is the synthesis and production of multi-kilo quantities of early and late-stage building blocks for pharmaceutical industries. They particularly excel at the translation of bench-scale procedures to multi-kilo production.
Highlight Publication:
Thermal, structural and dynamic properties of ionic liquids and organic ionic plastic crystals with a small ether-functionalised cation. Warrington, A., Kang, C.S.M., Forsyth, C., Doherty, C.M., Acharya, D., O’Dell, L.A., Sirigiri, N., Boyle, J.W., Hutt, O.E., Forsyth, M., Pringle, J.M. (2022) Materials Chemistry Frontiers, 6 (11), pp. 1437-1455. 10.1039/D2QM00045H
This article was first published in the storEnergy’s 2023 Report: Leading the way in energy storage research and training. Read the full report.