It may be a few years behind the rest of the world but the UK is at least trying to make up for lost time with a series of funding rounds aimed at developing the nation’s battery credentials.
The latest series of funding enables a team of chemistry, engineering and materials groups to develop next-generation lithium-ion and lithium-air batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems.
The project will see chemists, materials modellers and manufacturing engineers at the Universities of Bath, Cambridge and Leeds, and at Imperial College London will work together in close contact with supply chain companies and end-users.
The £6.8 million Programme Grant will fund a five-year project entitled “Enabling Next-Generation Lithium Batteries” led by Professor Peter Bruce FRS based at the University of Oxford.
Professor Saiful Islam, from the Bath University’s Department of Chemistry and the Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies (CSCT) said: “Energy storage is a major research challenge of our time.
“The rechargeable lithium-ion battery has transformed portable electronics and now has a crucial role in electric vehicles and in grid storage of electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar.”
He added: “Our research at Bath will involve modelling and developing new materials that can be integrated into lab-scale battery devices.”
The projects partners include UK firms Johnson Matthey, drivetrain firm AVL, and defence technology company QinetiQ. Also included are energy utility firm EDF Energy, Sharp Laboratories of Europe Ltd, automobile OEM Jaguar Land Rover and Nokia.
Professor Bruce, Wolfson Chair in Materials at the University of Oxford, said: “The multidisciplinary team will work with our industrial partners to accelerate the pull-through of basic research to practical prototypes of future battery systems for electrical vehicles or grid-scale storage.”
The cash comes from the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).