Through its new Integration
and Optimization of Novel Ion-Conducting Solids (IONICS) program, the Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) recently
announced $37 million in grants for 16 battery and fuel-cell product projects.
The IONICS project is dedicated to moving
battery and fuel-cell technology beyond its current limitations, allowing for
more efficient storage of energy from carbon-free sources, such as solar or wind
power, which are intermittent in nature. The project hopes to push the
boundaries of current batteries and fuel cells by incorporating solid-ion
conductors, or solids in which ions are mobile and can store energy.
“While battery
technologies have improved by leaps and bounds over the past few years, there
remain some imposing physical and chemical barriers that have stifled further
innovation,” ARPA-E Director Ellen Williams said. “Solid-ion conductors
made of affordable, easily produced materials could replace today’s mostly
liquid electrolytes and expensive fuel-cell parts, helping create a next
generation of batteries and fuel cells that are low-cost, durable and more
efficient.”
Through the IONICS
projects, ARPA-E hopes to discover how new materials and processes can increase
energy capacity without causing short circuits or battery degradation, as well as reduce
battery costs by replacing expensive elements such as platinum.
DOE unit to fund research into improving battery, fuel-cell technology
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