Description:

Efficient energy storage systems represent a critical technology across consumer electronics, electrified transportation, and a smart grid accommodating intermittent renewable energy sources. Arguably, the most important advance in energy storage over the past 3 decades is the lithium-ion battery, the 2019 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry.

However, despite its many successes, issues related to safety, energy density, charging time, and operating temperature have hindered the large-scale adoption of some revolutionary lithium-ion battery technologies used in electric vehicles and grid-level storage.

We will explore the inner workings of lithium-ion batteries including recent efforts to overcome the limitations of traditional battery materials.  This new technology offers a future pathway towards a safer, more efficient battery that provides enough power to not only be utilized dependably in electric cars but also the electric grid.