Executive Summary : | As society transitions to renewable energy sources, there is a growing demand for better energy storage technologies, such as batteries. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been the primary solution for energy storage, but their limited resources, safety concerns, and increasing cost have led to the development of alternative battery technologies like Calcium (Ca) metal ion-based batteries. These batteries have high volumetric and gravimetric capacities and are safe and inexpensive. However, the development of these batteries faces challenges due to the unavailability of suitable electrolytes. The highly reducing nature of the Ca metal anode results in the decomposition of common electrolytes, leading to the formation of solid electrolyte interphase (sEI), which hinders the stripping and plating of Ca2+ ions, affecting the overall performance of the battery. solid-state electrolytes (ssEs) are less extensively investigated for CIBs, with most research focused on monovalent ion batteries, especially LIBs. Quasi solid-state electrolytes (QssEs) formed by combining appropriate solvents into the solid matrix are being explored for CIBs. However, no QssEs have been reported for CIBs, providing an opportunity to explore this dimension and design new QssEs for commercial CIBs. Experimental investigations of QssEs for CIBs can be tedious and costly without proper protocols. However, modeling and computational techniques have proven efficient enough to provide an easier way to investigate QssEs. The project aims to design and investigate various QssEs for CIBs, study micro-level phenomena inside them, and investigate the interaction of QssE with the Ca anode. This work may provide a strong theoretical background and guidelines for experimentalists to design and synthesize QssEs for CIBs. |