̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - batteries

What does it take to make a better battery?

lw355 — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 08:20:28 +0000

Cambridge researchers are working to solve one of technology’s biggest puzzles: how to build next-generation batteries that could power a green revolution.

Soft, stretchy ‘jelly batteries’ inspired by electric eels

sc604 — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 18:00:00 +0000

̽��ֱ��researchers, from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, took their inspiration from electric eels, which stun their prey with modified muscle cells called electrocytes.

Like electrocytes, the jelly-like materials developed by the Cambridge researchers have a layered structure, like sticky Lego, that makes them capable of delivering an electric current.

̽��ֱ��self-healing jelly batteries can stretch to over ten times their original length without affecting their conductivity – the first time that such stretchability and conductivity has been combined in a single material. ̽��ֱ��results are reported in the journal Science Advances.

̽��ֱ��jelly batteries are made from hydrogels: 3D networks of polymers that contain over 60% water. ̽��ֱ��polymers are held together by reversible on/off interactions that control the jelly’s mechanical properties.

̽��ֱ��ability to precisely control mechanical properties and mimic the characteristics of human tissue makes hydrogels ideal candidates for soft robotics and bioelectronics; however, they need to be both conductive and stretchy for such applications.

“It’s difficult to design a material that is both highly stretchable and highly conductive, since those two properties are normally at odds with one another,” said first author Stephen O’Neill, from Cambridge’s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry. “Typically, conductivity decreases when a material is stretched.”

“Normally, hydrogels are made of polymers that have a neutral charge, but if we charge them, they can become conductive,” said co-author Dr Jade McCune, also from the Department of Chemistry. “And by changing the salt component of each gel, we can make them sticky and squish them together in multiple layers, so we can build up a larger energy potential.”

Conventional electronics use rigid metallic materials with electrons as charge carriers, while the jelly batteries use ions to carry charge, like electric eels.

̽��ֱ��hydrogels stick strongly to each other because of reversible bonds that can form between the different layers, using barrel-shaped molecules called cucurbiturils that are like molecular handcuffs. ̽��ֱ��strong adhesion between layers provided by the molecular handcuffs allows for the jelly batteries to be stretched, without the layers coming apart and crucially, without any loss of conductivity.

̽��ֱ��properties of the jelly batteries make them promising for future use in biomedical implants, since they are soft and mould to human tissue. “We can customise the mechanical properties of the hydrogels so they match human tissue,” said Professor Oren Scherman, Director of the Melville Laboratory for Polymer Synthesis, who led the research in collaboration with Professor George Malliaras from the Department of Engineering. “Since they contain no rigid components such as metal, a hydrogel implant would be much less likely to be rejected by the body or cause the build-up of scar tissue.”

In addition to their softness, the hydrogels are also surprisingly tough. They can withstand being squashed without permanently losing their original shape, and can self-heal when damaged.

̽��ֱ��researchers are planning future experiments to test the hydrogels in living organisms to assess their suitability for a range of medical applications.

̽��ֱ��research was funded by the European Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Oren Scherman is a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge.

Reference:
Stephen J.K. O’Neill et al. ‘Highly Stretchable Dynamic Hydrogels for Soft Multilayer Electronics.’ Science Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adn5142

Researchers have developed soft, stretchable ‘jelly batteries’ that could be used for wearable devices or soft robotics, or even implanted in the brain to deliver drugs or treat conditions such as epilepsy.

Scherman Lab

Jelly batteries

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Yes

Echion Technologies secures £29 million to help commercialise its sustainable battery technology

skbf2 — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 11:56:21 +0000

Echion, a Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� spinout headquartered just outside the city, has invented and patented a niobium-based anode material, XNO®, for use with re-chargeable lithium-ion batteries. ̽��ֱ��material enables the lithium-ion batteries to safely charge in less than ten minutes, last for more than 10,000 cycles and not lose power in extreme cold or hot temperatures.

By improving the power density and thermal stability of lithium-ion batteries, XNO® extends their lifespan. Batteries using XNO® have been shown to have a lower environmental impact than those based on other commonly used materials such as graphite. Graphite is the dominant anode material, with over 90% market share, due to its high energy density and low cost. But for fast charging, graphite-based cells are limited in maximum charge rate compared to XNO® based cells. XNO®’s higher capacity retention and cycle life when charging, across a wider temperature range, boosts available battery capacity. Despite the same volume and weight, higher total energy delivered across the lifetime of the battery lowers total cost of ownership.

̽��ֱ��£29 million investment will mean Echion’s XNO® anode material can start to be used in real-world applications, such as battery electric and hybrid trains, mining haul trucks, opportunity-charging e-buses, heavy-duty industrial transport and delivery vehicles.

Echion’s longstanding partnership with the world’s leading producer of niobium, CBMM, will see the opening of a 2,000 tonne per year XNO® manufacturing facility in 2024. This will provide Echion with the manufacturing capacity to supply its global customer base of major cell manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

̽��ֱ��investment round was led by specialist battery and energy storage technology investor Volta Energy Technologies (Volta), with participation from existing investors CBMM, BGF and Cambridge Enterprise Ventures.

Jean de La Verpilliere, CEO of Echion Technologies, said: “Our ambition is to deliver the best fast-charging batteries to unlock the electrification of heavy-duty vehicles. ̽��ֱ��investment from our partners Volta Energy Technologies, CBMM, BGF and Cambridge Enterprise Ventures cements our ambition to achieve full-scale commercialisation and full production volume.

“ ̽��ֱ��entire Echion team has worked tirelessly to develop our flagship XNO® material into what it is today and this has enabled us to establish partnerships with many major OEMs and cell manufacturers which have recognised the benefits of our materials. I look forward to being able to satisfy their demand for innovative niobium-based anode materials, and to see industrial and commercial applications powered by XNO®.”

Dr Jeff Chamberlain, CEO and Founder of Volta Energy Technologies, said: “We are excited to lead Echion’s Series B and make Volta’s first investment in Europe. Echion and their XNO® technology complements our growing portfolio of technologies that address significant market needs through innovations in the supply chains of battery and energy storage technology. We believe the power of XNO® can uniquely improve performance, lower cost, and meet the demands of the growing, international markets across mining, logistics, railways, automotive and more.”

Rodrigo Barjas Amado, Managing Partner and Commercial Head of Battery Program at CBMM, said: “Having invested in Echion since 2021, we are pleased to see the progress that has been made through our partnership so far and we are proud to support bringing this ground-breaking, niobium-based technology to the market with our 2,000 tonne per year manufacturing capacity.”

Dennis Atkinson, Investor at BGF, said: “Echion is a world class UK based battery technology business. We are proud to have them as part of our climate and deeptech portfolio, and excited to support the team and their XNO® technology in electrifying and decarbonising heavy transport.”

"Echion is entering the market with their next generation battery material at scale. This is a great team that has combined great technology, great talent, great partners and great money for their go-to-market journey. We’re pleased to have been with Echion from the start and to continue our relationship into this B round with a terrific syndicate of co-investors,” says Chris Gibbs, Investment Director, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures.

Adapted from media release published by Cambridge Enterprise.

Cambridge spinout, Echion Technologies has raised £29 million in investment capital to help it increase the production of its fast-charging, long-life battery material based on niobium.

Echion Technologies senior management team (L-R: Dr Alex Groombridge, Chief Technology Officer, Dr Sarah Stevenson, Chief Operating Officer, Jean de La Verpilliere, Chief Executive Officer, Ceri Neal, Chief Financial Officer, and Benjamin Ting, Chief Comm

Yes

Mess is best: disordered structure of battery-like devices improves performance

sc604 — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 18:00:00 +0000

Researchers led by the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge used experimental and computer modelling techniques to study the porous carbon electrodes used in supercapacitors. They found that electrodes with a more disordered chemical structure stored far more energy than electrodes with a highly ordered structure.

Supercapacitors are a key technology for the energy transition and could be useful for certain forms of public transport, as well as for managing intermittent solar and wind energy generation, but their adoption has been limited by poor energy density.

̽��ֱ��researchers say their results, reported in the journal Science, represent a breakthrough in the field and could reinvigorate the development of this important net-zero technology.

Like batteries, supercapacitors store energy, but supercapacitors can charge in seconds or a few minutes, while batteries take much longer. Supercapacitors are far more durable than batteries, and can last for millions of charge cycles. However, the low energy density of supercapacitors makes them unsuitable for delivering long-term energy storage or continuous power.

“Supercapacitors are a complementary technology to batteries, rather than a replacement,” said Dr Alex Forse from Cambridge’s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, who led the research. “Their durability and extremely fast charging capabilities make them useful for a wide range of applications.”

A bus, train or metro powered by supercapacitors, for example, could fully charge in the time it takes to let passengers off and on, providing it with enough power to reach the next stop. This would eliminate the need to install any charging infrastructure along the line. However, before supercapacitors are put into widespread use, their energy storage capacity needs to be improved.

While a battery uses chemical reactions to store and release charge, a supercapacitor relies on the movement of charged molecules between porous carbon electrodes, which have a highly disordered structure. “Think of a sheet of graphene, which has a highly ordered chemical structure,” said Forse. “If you scrunch up that sheet of graphene into a ball, you have a disordered mess, which is sort of like the electrode in a supercapacitor.”

Because of the inherent messiness of the electrodes, it’s been difficult for scientists to study them and determine which parameters are the most important when attempting to improve performance. This lack of clear consensus has led to the field getting a bit stuck.

Many scientists have thought that the size of the tiny holes, or nanopores, in the carbon electrodes was the key to improved energy capacity. However, the Cambridge team analysed a series of commercially available nanoporous carbon electrodes and found there was no link between pore size and storage capacity.

Forse and his colleagues took a new approach and used nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy – a sort of ‘MRI’ for batteries – to study the electrode materials. They found that the messiness of the materials – long thought to be a hindrance – was the key to their success.

“Using NMR spectroscopy, we found that energy storage capacity correlates with how disordered the materials are – the more disordered materials can store more energy,” said first author Xinyu Liu, a PhD candidate co-supervised by Forse and Professor Dame Clare Grey. “Messiness is hard to measure – it’s only possible thanks to new NMR and simulation techniques, which is why messiness is a characteristic that’s been overlooked in this field.”

When analysing the electrode materials with NMR spectroscopy, a spectrum with different peaks and valleys is produced. ̽��ֱ��position of the peak indicates how ordered or disordered the carbon is. “It wasn’t our plan to look for this, it was a big surprise,” said Forse. “When we plotted the position of the peak against energy capacity, a striking correlation came through – the most disordered materials had a capacity almost double that of the most ordered materials.”

So why is mess good? Forse says that’s the next thing the team is working on. More disordered carbons store ions more efficiently in their nanopores, and the team hope to use these results to design better supercapacitors. ̽��ֱ��messiness of the materials is determined at the point they are synthesised.

“We want to look at new ways of making these materials, to see how far messiness can take you in terms of improving energy storage,” said Forse. “It could be a turning point for a field that’s been stuck for a little while. Clare and I started working on this topic over a decade ago, and it’s exciting to see a lot of our previous fundamental work now having a clear application.”

̽��ֱ��research was supported in part by the Cambridge Trusts, the European Research Council, and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Reference:
Xinyu Liu et al. ‘Structural disorder determines capacitance in nanoporous carbons.’ Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.adn6242

For more information on energy-related research in Cambridge, please visit the Energy IRC, which brings together Cambridge’s research knowledge and expertise, in collaboration with global partners, to create solutions for a sustainable and resilient energy landscape for generations to come.

̽��ֱ��energy density of supercapacitors – battery-like devices that can charge in seconds or a few minutes – can be improved by increasing the ‘messiness’ of their internal structure.

This could be a turning point for a field that’s been stuck for a little while.

Alex Forse

Nathan Pitt

Left to right: Clare Grey, Xinyu Liu, Alex Forse

Yes

Celebrating Women in STEM

plc32 — Sun, 11 Feb 2024 11:33:15 +0000

To mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science , two of our academics speak about their research careers and how they ended up using their STEM interests to tackle climate change.