New research aims to optimise batteries for automotive use

Prof Clare Grey, who has been appointed director of the Todd-Hamied Laboratory, has been working on battery technology for the past 17 years in the US. She said there were currently few academic groups in the UK doing similar research in the field.

‘It’s an area where there’s a lot of investment in the development end, but you also need basic fundamental science to underpin it and take it all the way from the invention through to production,’ she told The Engineer. 

The lightweight and energy-dense materials used in lithium-ion batteries have provided one of the most important recent breakthroughs in batteries used for consumer electronics. They are increasingly being considered by the automotive industry to power hybrid and electric vehicles, as well as for load levelling to manage the flow of electricity in a power grid.

Grey’s particular focus among energy materials is on electrodes and electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells.