Chiang at 2009 Materials Challenge for Alternative and
Renewable Energy meeting. Credit: ACerS.

When I interviewed Yet Ming Chiang, one of the brains behind A123 System’s lithium-ion battery technology, in 2009, he recalled a time when business opportunities weren’t yet a major interest:

“So, as the academic researcher, I wasn’t involved in A123 for my business acumen, right? But what happened was that my other cofounder, Ric Fulop, catalyzed the whole thing by coming to my office one day and announcing to me that he was interested in developing a venture based on new battery technology, and he wanted to know if I was working on anything that had that potential. What he really did when he arrived at my office was to prompt me to start to commercialize things that I might otherwise have waited longer to do, waited for a higher level of development . . . Part of the pitch [to venture capital companies] is, how do you convince an investor that even the technical guys understand what the impact of this can be? Over time the boundaries blurred a great deal. Ric became an expert in the technology very quickly, and I learned a lot about the business side, and it was mutually beneficial. So, I was able to help with the business development side as well as the technology.

Indeed, it became news in a conference call last week that Chiang and A123 Systems are working with venture investors on spin-off project to develop a new lithium-based battery design on flow battery principles. The new business is called 24M Technologies. According to a story by Technology Review, the name is a reference to 24 molar, a “concentration levels that Chiang cryptically calls ‘technically significant’ to the company.”

I shed more light on the “24 molar” reference below, although coincidentally there is a old chemistry joke:

Q: How do you make a 24-molar solution?
A: Put your artificial teeth in water.

Chiang, an ACerS member, tells TR that the new battery technology – initially developed at A123 and improved upon at MIT – involves a semisolid design that could cut production costs by 85 percent.

Chiang also tells TR that the battery design incorporates some concepts and elements of traditional batteries, fuel cells and flow batteries. He is quoted as saying, “In a typical rechargeable battery, only half of it is actual energy-storing materials. The rest is supporting materials. . . That’s a problem I’ve been thinking about for years – how do you improve the efficiency of the design?”

If his thinking goes back years, it might be worth noting that Chiang’s original battery concepts - before A123 – involved controlling colloid chemistry to get batteries to self organize. He thinks of self organization in the sense that the cathode and anode materials might repel themselves and spontaneously form an electrochemical junction. At the time, the hard part, for Chiang, was finding materials for the positive side of the junction. He spent a lot of time looking at olivines, “because,” he told me, “of all of the compounds, they were known to be useful as electrode materials. We screened them and found they had useful refractive indexes. So, that led to some work we did looking at olivines - lithium-ion phosphate, lithium manganese phosphate, nickel cobalt phosphate, that family of compounds - in order to see if we could use the properties in a way to produce a self-organizing system. In the end, we were able to produce an interesting laboratory demonstration of that concept. It has not proceeded, at this point, to full-scale device development.”

Building on this – and more on point – Chiang and three others at MIT filed a fascinating patent in 2009 regarding a design of a “redox flow” battery with a semisolid electrode:

“Redox flow devices are described in which at least one of the positive electrode or negative electrode-active materials is a semisolid or is a condensed ion-storing electroactive material, and in which at least one of the electrode-active materials is transported to and from an assembly at which the electrochemical reaction occurs, producing electrical energy. The electronic conductivity of the semisolid is increased by the addition of conductive particle to suspensions and the surface modification of the solid in semisolids: coating the solid with a more electron conductive coating material to increase the power of the device. High energy density and high power redox flow devices are disclosed.

. . .

“By “semisolid” it is meant that the material is a mixture of liquid and solid phases, for example, such as a slurry, particle suspension, colloidal suspension, emulsion, gel, or micelle. “Condensed ion-storing liquid” or “condensed liquid” means that the liquid is not merely a solvent as it is in the case of an aqueous flow cell catholyte or anolyte, but rather, that the liquid is itself redox-active. Of course, such a liquid form may also be diluted by or mixed with another, non-redox-active liquid that is a diluent or solvent, including mixing with such a diluent to form a lower-melting liquid phase, emulsion or micelles including the ion-storing liquid.”

Redox flow batteries are also known as a “flow cells” or “reversible fuel cells.” They are energy storage devices in which the positive and negative electrode reactants are soluble metal ions in liquid solution that are oxidized or reduced during the operation of the cell. Using two reversible redox couples, liquid state redox reactions are carried out at the positive and negative electrodes. In a flow battery, the nonelectrochemically active components at which the redox reactions take place and electrons are transported to or from the external circuit are known as electrodes, whereas in a conventional primary or secondary battery they are known as current collectors.

The patent goes on to describe a device that includes a storage tank for storing a flowable semisolid or condensed liquid ion-storing redox composition. The storage tank is in “flow communication” with the redox flow energy storage device using a peristaltic pump to transport the fluid. (A peristaltic pump is what you’ve seen used in hospitals with IV medicines: A roller moves along a length of flexible tubing, so that the fluid inside the tubing never comes into contact with anything outside of the tubing.)

The patent goes on to say that the the flowable semisolid or condensed liquid ion-storing redox composition provides a specific energy of more than about 150 Wh/kg at a total energy of less than about 50 kWh; 200 Wh/kg at total energy less than about 100 kWh; or 250 Wh/kg at total energy less than about 300 kWh.

The patent seems to address the mystery of the “24M” name:

One distinction between a conventional flow battery anolyte and catholyte and the ion-storing solid or liquid phases as exemplified herein is the molar concentration or molarity of redox species in the storage compound. For example, conventional anolytes or catholytes that have redox species dissolved in aqueous solution may be limited in molarity to typically 2M to 8M concentration. Highly acidic solutions may be necessary to reach the higher end of this concentration range. By contrast, any flowable semi-solid or condensed liquid ion-storing redox composition as described herein may have, when taken in moles per liter or molarity, at least 10M concentration of redox species, preferably at least 12M, still preferably at least 15M, and still preferably at least 20M.

I deduce here that, apparently, the sweet spot is at 24M.

In the recent conference call with investment analysts, A123 officials described the new battery design as a “significant long-term project” and a “significant change from lithium ion technology.” They said they spun off the new company to “get enough focused management time and funding to get it move aggressively to marketplace. By using VC funding and management approach, probability of success will be much greater in a short period of time.”

One surprise, however, is that they see the new flow battery not just for electric vehicles but more importantly as a low-cost energy storage solution for the electric grid. The new company has already received $10 million in funding from private investors and $6 million from ARPA-E.

Adding: For reference purposes, the estimated weight of the battery for a Nissan Leaf is ~660+ pounds.

Aleksander Pyzik, Rob Ziebarth, Chan Han, Kwanho Yang write in ACT that much of the work on this topic is being driven by environmental regulations in different parts of the world that are mandating reductions in NO_x, CO₂, SO_x, HC and particulate matter (PM). Currently, the most sophisticated approaches have been to use a three-part system that is comprised of a diesel oxidation catalyst, a ceramic diesel particulate filter and a separate NOx catalyst on a ceramic substrate. They note that while this three-part system works, it is “complex, bulky and expensive.”

Although technically feasible, they note that while just dumping different catalytic washes on a typical ceramic substrate (such as silicon carbide, cordierite, and aluminum titanate)  might work, the back pressure on the engine (a measure of how much power must be wasted pushing the exhaust through the filter/catalyst) would be substantial and, practically speaking, make this approach unworkable. Further, any attempts to increase porosity in the typical substrate materials would be offset by a reduction in strength.

So, the researchers looks around for another candidate for a new substrate and found one to be acicular mullite, an advanced ceramic material. Dow has a proprietary method for making the acicular mullite, and this group experimented with extruded catalyzed acicular mullite honeycombs created with a variety of porosities (between 64% and 80%) showed excellent NOx reduction and pressure drop that is comparable with state-of-art commercial filters without any catalyst coating.

They found that the 64% porosity sample given a catalytic wash still cause a back pressure problem, but when porosity was raised to 75% and 80%, back pressure declined significantly. They report that the 75% porosity sample was “robust, easy to process and easy to handle,” while the 80% sample was more fragile, but still could be handled without damage. More importantly, when the 75% and 80% samples were given catalyst washcoats of Pt and Ba compounds dispersed in Al₂O₃, they achieved NO_x reductions of 93% and 98%, respectively. Even heavier catalyst loading caused only modest increases in back pressure.

Not surprisingly, their conclusion is that the acicular mullite isn’t just a good candidate for a combined NO_x control and soot filtration system, but is is also a prime candidate for a multifunctional system that simultaneously and successfully tackles NO_x, soot, hydrocarbons, CO and CO₂.

For other recent stories on NOx-reduction materials, see:

Titanium dioxide-coated anti-NOx roof tiles now being marketed in U.S.

Titania–concrete combination in roadways reduces NOx levels 25-45%

Strontium-doped perovskite-based catalytic converters offer cheaper alternative to platinum for diesel, gas exhaust

Brick, stained glass that cleans the air

Sure, it’s kind of an oxymoron: The gas-guzzling motor circuit goes green. But a solar-powered sport racing facility in Pennsylvania might help offset that footprint.

According to a Newswire press release, this solar project is a 3 megawatt ground-mount photovoltaic solar energy system at Pocono Raceway, installed over 25 acres adjacent to the 2.5-mile race track. The scope of this project is far from minor: with 40,000 photovoltaic modules drawing energy from the sun, the Pocono Raceway solar installation is now the primary electric energy source for the race track and is expected to add electricity to the local power grid

“NASCAR is committed to becoming a leader in environmental responsibility by reducing our impact and serving as a testing ground for innovative new approaches for sustainability,” said Brian France, Chairman and CEO of NASCAR. “This meaningful green project reflects the NASCAR industry’s collaborative approach to preserving the environment and highlights Pocono Raceway’s significant contribution as the first major U.S. sports venue to go green with 100% renewable energy. We encourage other tracks and sponsors to follow this lead in making sustainable programs and renewable energy a continued priority for the sport.”

Saving money was the initial reason behind the installation, says president Brandon Igdalsky. Price caps will soon be lifted on electric rates in Pennsylvania, and bills are expected to skyrocket. Windmills had been ruled out because of a lack of sustained winds in the area and the presence nearby of eagle and osprey nests.

CNN reported that General Motors announced its Chevrolet Volt electric car will cost $41,000 when it goes on sale in November.

While the price is about $8,000 more than the Nissan Leaf, GM said it will offer a $350-per-month lease deal that’s essentially equal to the Leaf’s.

Both cars also are eligible for a federal tax credit that will cut their prices by $7,500. The Volt would fall to $33,500 while the Leaf’s would drop to $25,280 from nearly $33,000.

Some states, such as California, Georgia and Oregon, offer additional tax breaks that lower the price further.

Powered by a lithium-ion battery pack, the Volt will be capable of traveling up to 40 miles on purely electric power. For driving beyond 40 miles, the Volt will have a four-cylinder gasoline engine that will generate electricity to power the wheels 300 miles.

GM’s lease deal is $350 a month for 36 months with $2,500 down. Nissan’s lease plan is $349 per month for the same length of time with $1,995 down.

GM will unveil the Volt first in California, then in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Michigan and Texas. The cars will first be sold through 600 Chevrolet dealers. But in 12 to 18 months, dealers nationwide should offer the cars.

Nissan’s Leaf, which goes on sale in December, can go up to 100 miles on a charge. The car doesn’t have a gas engine and must be recharged once its battery is depleted.

Apparently more folks are jumping on the titanium dioxide’s anti-smog bandwagon. A few days ago I wrote about studies underway in Netherlands where they are testing TiO₂-coated concrete roadway pavers for their ability to remove NOx emissions in the air.

Two days ago I learned that concrete roof tiles treated with titanium dioxide are now being marketed in the U.S. for their anti-NOx benefits. The MonierLifeTiles company, part of the Australia-based Boral corporate group, claims that in one year, a 2000 square foot roof of the new tiles “destroy the same amount of nitrogen oxides as a car produces from being driven 10,800 miles.”

The company doesn’t provide any references on these numbers, but the implication, of course, is that a consumer could theoretically offset the NOx emissions of his or her car assuming they drove around 10,000 miles a year. According to the company’s website, the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics did confirm the TiO₂-treated tiles ability to degrade NO molecules (see below).

Now, apparently Monier-Boral have been selling these tiles for some time outside the U.S., so this isn’t exactly a new product. The company signaled (sort of - I’ll explain below) that it is now interested in the U.S. market when it teamed up with KB Home to outfit a model house in a new KB community, Alamosa, in West Lancaster, Calif., near LA.

The model home also features solar panel-battery-LED lighting system produced by a Chinese company, BYD – the same BYD that is manufacturing electric vehicles). USA today has a brief write up on the model house. (Sunpluggers has a more detailed story about the house’s systems but doesn’t mention the roof tiles.)

But with PV panels covering a chunk of the 1519-square-foot home’s roof, the owners may need to be driving a hybrid to brag that they are offsetting their smog contribution.

The Alamosa house has gained publicity, but it seems to me that the company is stumbling when it comes to actually marketing this line of tile. First, there is nothing about the tiles on the website they promote (www.montierlifetile.com) about the tile. Not even a press release about the Alamosa house. A little googling leads one to the company’s European site where more info exists, but nothing helpful about sales.

Second, a few calls to some of Monier’s regional sales people in the U.S. led to a lot of unanswered voicemails. When I was finally referred to the MonierLifeTile’s national customer service number, the person at the other end of the line said she had never heard of Auranox and didn’t know what I was referring to. A message with the national sales manager has, so far, gone unanswered. Thus, I can’t tell you what the tiles cost or where they are made.

Third, the company is using untrained PR folks who either don’t know when to put a leash on the hyperbole or, worse, just make things up:

(from one of their emails, emphasis added) “So, if a homeowner has a roof with Auranox tiles he/she can have a net zero impact on the environment.”

(and this) “About 48% of all greenhouse gases and air pollution comes from homes and buildings and 18% from the entire transportation industry.”

The one thing that the company seems to be doing right is its Facebook page.