Conductive hydrogel-based composite materials for flexible energy conversion and storage devices - Project - Bridge of Knowledge

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Conductive hydrogel-based composite materials for flexible energy conversion and storage devices

Hydrogels are polymeric materials that have been studied for decades and successfully used in such areas of science as biology, medicine and biomedical engineering. The latter, in particular, boasts a wide range of applications due to its extraordinary properties, including the ability to keep large amounts of water or aqueous solutions in the hydrogel structure. Recent scientific works show that hydrogels can be successfully used in advanced energy technologies. The main goal of this research project is to develop and investigate new composite materials based on conductive hydrogel in the form of fibers as flexible systems for energy conversion and storage. The task of the hydrogel fibrous structure will be to create a hierarchical three-dimensional network in which electrocatalytically active nanoparticles will be suspended. By combining the hydrogel with the appropriate conductive material, a structure will be created that is an ideal environment for the transport of electrons and ions, so important in electrochemical processes. The entire process of both creating a conductive hydrogel and suspending the catalyst particles in its structure will be developed and optimized in the first stages of the project. The most important stage will be the production of mats made of hydrogel fibers. The electrospinning technique will be used for this purpose. The conductive hydrogel material with electrically active particles suspended in its structure will be subjected to high voltage (up to 30 kV), which is necessary in the electrospinning process. An interesting issue is the influence of changing the voltage polarity, which may bring additional interesting effects in the structure of the forming fibers and positively influence the properties of the catalytic material thus produced. Such a system may contribute to the self-assembly of electrically active particles. Investigating this phenomenon and its consequences for the materials produced in this way will be one of the main tasks undertaken in the project. Adopting an appropriate strategy for designing hydrogel composites, how to produce them and modifying their molecular architecture, will allow us to meet several critical challenges in advanced energy technologies, and overcome the limitations of current materials, improving the efficiency of devices in the field of energy storage and conversion.

Details

Financial Program Name:
SONATA
Organization:
Narodowe Centrum Nauki (NCN) (National Science Centre)
Agreement:
UMO-2021/43/D/ST5/01828 z dnia 2022-09-29
Realisation period:
2022-09-29 - 2025-09-28
Project manager:
dr inż. Sylwia Pawłowska
Team members:
Realised in:
Laboratorium Materiałów Funkcjonalnych ETI
Project's value:
1 609 180.00 PLN
Request type:
National Research Programmes
Domestic:
Domestic project
Verified by:
Gdańsk University of Technology

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