INL researchers are actively working on battery technology towards Clean Energy
This image was taken by the researcher Cristiana Alves, Arumugam Manthiram and Paulo Ferreira using a scanning electron microscope. It shows micro-sized particles of elements found in lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles (lithium, nickel, manganese, cobalt and oxygen).
The most used energy sources today are based on resources that will not be naturally renewed at the pace at which these are currently being consumed. There is an urgent need to develop new materials and technologies that will enable society to convert to renewable energy sources.
One must consider that renewable sources can only produce electricity based on the resources availability - sun, wind, water, waste, and heat from the Earth; consequently, by default, renewable sources might not be available according to consumption, which might create grid issues when deployed in large scale. With the increasing use of renewable energy, there is a need to increase energy storage, such as batteries.
INL researchers from the Clean Energy cluster are actively researching battery technology.
Here is a highlight of the ongoing projects:
INL is developing anode materials with carbon and silicon (Si/C) composites with enhanced storage capacity and cycling stability.
HEDAsupercap (Horizon Europe)
The aim of this European-funded project is to fabricate supercapacitor cells with an energy density 8 times higher than the state-of-the-art EDLC supercapacitors in the market and demonstrate their use in hand-warming gloves and e-scooters.
Within the NGS Agenda funded by Portugal's recovery and resilience plan (PRR), INL is participating in several research activities in all of the battery value chain, creating a new battery ecosystem such as the production of battery components and the development of new materials and processes for battery fabrication.
For more detailed information, please follow the project links. These projects are all highly collaborative, both with academia and industry, at different stages and technology readiness levels (TRL).