Summary
The share of fluctuating power generation through renewable energies in the electricity sector is expanding constantly, but solutions and infrastructure to relieve the burden on the electricity grid and to ensure a permanent supply of electricity are still lacking. For households and blocks of flats or at solar and wind power plants, many powerful storage systems with a capacity of 5 to 1,000 kWh are thus required. Lead batteries have mainly been used in such areas up to now, but they have the disadvantages of being expensive, inflexible and not scalable.
In the project, printable and rechargeable zinc-air batteries are being developed as an alternative to lead batteries. Zinc-air batteries are currently used single-serving in hearing aids, as there is no cost-effective production for rechargeable systems.
In the project, new materials for zinc and oxygen electrodes and a suitable formulation for processing are being researched using printing technology. For this purpose, zinc powders with optimised chemical composition and grain shape are being sought and a new cell design is being developed that can be transferred to the roll-to-roll printing process. Cell webs produced in this way can be used very flexibly, for example cut, stacked, folded and/or built into a housing. This allows tailor-made application as stationary power storage units. The air-zinc batteries also have a high intrinsic safety due to aqueous electrolytes. Furthermore, the recyclability of all materials is ensured in closed material cycles.
