Advancing the science and development of solid state batteries

Faculty

Gary Rubloff, Eric Wachsman, Paul Albertus, Sang Bok Lee

Funding Agency

U.S.-Israel Energy Center

Year

2020

Descriptions

The Maryland Energy Innovation Institute (MEI²) has been selected to lead the U.S. side of a $18.4M, five-year program, awarded by the U.S.-Israel Energy Center, and managed by the Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation, to conduct research, development, and commercialization of innovative energy technologies in the fossil energy, energy storage and energy-water nexus sectors. MEI² participants Eric Wachsman (MSE/ChBE Professor, MEI² Director and Co-PI) Gary Rubloff (MSE Professor, Co-PI), Paul Albertus (ChBE Assistant Professor, MEI² Associate Director, and Co-PI), and Sang Bok Lee (Chem/Biochem Associate Professor, Co-PI and UMD NanoCenter Director) will lead the effort.

The project will focus on advancing the science and development of solid state batteries, including work on advanced coatings, cell components, cells, and materials informatics software, for both Na and Li metal batteries. The proposed innovation consists of solid-state batteries that use either lithium or sodium metal as the anode material – these batteries offer a breakthrough in terms of energy per unit mass and volume at the cell level (>30% improvement vs. current Li-ion batteries), cost (by increasing energy density and using low-cost materials), safety (by use of electrolyte materials with improved intrinsic thermal stability), and an ability to serve numerous end-use sectors including specialized applications such as aerospace, as well as larger markets in transportation and stationary storage.