Rechargeable Batteries for Transportation and Grid: What's Possible?

In the past two decades rechargeable batteries have been a great success in powering consumer electronics. There is a recent strong interest in applying rechargeable batteries to vehicle electrification and grid-scale storage, which present new challenges and opportunities for batteries including energy density, cost, safety, cycle life among many parameters. This talk reviews existing technologies and looks into next generation of batteries with great promise for vehicles and grids. Particularly, novel battery materials are key for a revolutionary change. High-energy batteries examples include silicon and lithium metal anodes, and sulfur and air cathodes. Novel aqueous and redox-flow batteries with low cost could impact the grid-scale storage. Smart separators could enhance the battery safety significantly.