Executive Summary : | The excessive exploitation of fossil fuels has led to serious climate issues, necessitating the exploration of renewable energy sources like wind and solar. However, these sources are intermittent, requiring energy storage solutions (EES). In India, most grid-level EES use lithium ion-based batteries, which are scarce and import-intensive, increasing the cost of energy storage to $150/KWh. Indian researchers are prioritizing the development of EES using low-cost locally available materials, supporting the government's "Make in India" mission. Liquid metal batteries (LMBs) have been explored as an EES for grid energy storage, with liquid metal layers as electrodes separated by a molten salt electrolyte. LMBs are expected to be non-degradable over several thousand cycles and safer than Li-ion. The wide application and commercialization of LMBs have been delayed due to high melting points of electrolytes, causing operating temperatures to exceed 500oC and increasing working costs. In recent years, studies have lowered the operating temperature of LMBs to 375oC. The primary aim is to further lower operating temperatures below 300oC while using earth-abundant elements. This proposal aims to reduce the melting temperature of electrodes and electrolytes below 300oC by choosing alloys for electrodes and ternary salt mixtures for electrolytes. The electrolyte composition will be varied to optimize battery performance, including high energy efficiency, good cyclability, a discharging voltage greater than 0.8 V, and storage capacity of more than 100 mAh. |