South SFV Today

Scientists are working to develop a safe and sustainable battery for electricity grids. This effort, led by Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, involves experts from 15 research institutions across the United States and Canada. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced its support for this project, known as the Aqueous Battery Consortium, which could receive up to $62.5 million over five years under the DOE’s Energy Innovation Hubs program.

“This project will undertake the grand challenge of electrochemical energy storage in a world dependent on intermittent solar and wind power,” said Yi Cui, the project's director and a professor at Stanford. He emphasized the need for affordable, grid-scale energy storage that can work dependably for long periods.

The new research aims to develop an aqueous battery that is environmentally safe, has higher energy density than current lead-acid batteries, and costs significantly less than today's lithium-ion batteries. The team plans to achieve this by using cheaper raw materials, simpler electronics, and efficient manufacturing techniques.

“The barriers to such a new aqueous battery have stymied inventors for years,” said Linda Nazar, chief scientist of the project and a professor at the University of Waterloo. She noted challenges like low voltage and energy density as well as corrosion issues that have plagued previous efforts.

The consortium consists of 31 leading scientists from 12 universities in North America, along with researchers from SLAC, the U.S. Army Research Lab, and the U.S. Naval Research Lab. They are organized into teams focusing on various aspects of battery technology development.

“Our ambitious goals can be met only by a well-integrated team of experts working across disciplines,” said Johanna Nelson Weker, assistant director of the consortium.

Regular meetings and participation in scientific forums aim to foster collaboration among consortium members and create a large intellectual community focused on energy storage research.

Steve Eglash serves as chief operations officer for the consortium, overseeing organizational leadership including financial management and progress reporting to the DOE. The governance board will be led by Arun Majumdar from Stanford University with Steven Chu chairing the scientific advisory board.

“Several team members have taken on responsibility for overseeing crucial practices such as data management and environmental health,” said Eglash.

In addition to Stanford University and the University of Waterloo, other participating universities include California State University Long Beach; Florida A&M/Florida State University's College of Engineering; North Carolina State University; Oregon State University; San Jose State University; UCLA; UC-San Diego; UC-Santa Barbara; University of Maryland; and University of Texas at Austin.