People involved in the video:
Name: Mathieu Etienne
Position: Senior Researcher
Organization: LCPME, CNRS
Name: Ranine El Hage
Position: Post-doctoral Researcher
Organization: LCPME, CNRS
Name: Mariela Brites Helu
Position: Research Engineer
Organization: LCPME, CNRS
Name: Liang Liu
Position: Researcher
Organization: LCPME, CNRS
Short interview for the video:
What is the main contribution/role of your institution in the HIGREEW project?
One important element of redox flow batteries is the porous electrode that permits charging/discharging reactions with the flowing electrolyte. CNRS (i.e. LCPME and IJL) is working on measuring the effect of chemical treatments on the reactivity of porous electrodes with the goal of improving performances and stability of the HIGREEW battery. CNRS is also involved in Life Cycle Analysis of the HIGREEW battery (to be discussed in another video).
What is the most challenging and/or exciting part?
This research involved both the chemical modification of electrodes and the development of a proper methodology for quantification of the reactivity of these electrodes with the electrolytes developed by HIGREEW partners. The most challenging work concerns the quantification. Indeed, determining the reactivity of a porous material is not trivial and we have evaluated and compared three methods at three different scales with the objective to be as accurate as possible for making good decisions about the choice of the electrode and chemical treatment.
How are the results relevant to you and how will you make use of the project results in your institution? How are these advances important in the field of energy storage?
HIGREEW gave us a fantastic opportunity to evaluate and adapt experimental and modeling approaches for quantification of the reactivity at macro and microscale and to apply these tools and methods to materials prepared or modified in our laboratories. Porous materials are of critical importance in the energy field. Quantification of the reactivity of these materials will contribute to the development of the energy storage sector by promoting good technology development based on good science. One outlook of this research is the development of screening tools such as scanning gel electrochemical microscopy developed by us from 2018 and applied for the first time to energy materials in HIGREEW.
What is your experience within the HIGREEW project and collaborating with a team of EU partners?
The consortium and the management of HIGREEW is fantastic. CNRS is conducting fundamental research and it is for us a great experience to be involved in the HIGREEW project with partners closer to the application field. In fact, it is critical for us to establish a direct link between our fundamental developments and the need of industry and society.
More videos from the HIGREEW partners can be found on the video timeline.