Ceramic nanofibers for liquid and gas filtration and other high temperature applications

United States Patent Application WO 2008/112755 A1, September 18, 200

Hybrid Electrolytes

International audienceThe need for clean, safe and efficient energy is a major societal issue that involves the development of new technologies for storage and energy production. The electrolytic media are at the center of the electrochemical devices like fuel cells, dye−sensitized solar cells, also called Grätzel, or super-capacitors or lithium-ion batteries. The finding of new electrolytes is rather challenging as it must fit certain constraints such as wide electrochemical windows, sufficient ionic conductivities, excellent thermal stability and sufficient mechanical properties. Many studies have converged towards the study of hybrid electrolytes consisting of organic and inorganic phases, or polymer-ionic liquid mixtures, to obtain solid electrolytes and to fulfill all these constraints. Controlling the structure at the nanoscale and understanding their properties at various length and space scales are crucial for their optimization. Recent and different ways were proposed to design hybrid electrolytes opening new perspectives in the energy field. The genesis and the presentation of these developments are presented through three main applications: the fuel cells, the organic photovoltaic cells and the energy storage