Scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) will work with the Consortium for Battery Innovation (CBI) to use nanoscale technology to unlock the inner workings of lead batteries.
The partnership will explore the fundamental processes occurring inside lead batteries as part of CBI’s plans to deliver performance improvements in automotive and utility grid storage applications.
UCLA will use Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) to observe the crystallisation and dissolution of the phases involved in the charge and discharge of a lead battery during operation at the nanoscale.
The 18-month project aims to deliver improved battery performance and longer lifetimes.
Professor Chris Regan, who leads the research team from UCLA said: “Lead batteries have been a mainstay technology for more than a hundred years, but there is a significant amount that is still to be understood about the fundamental reactions occurring in this chemistry.
“We believe this new technique will help unlock new technological data to improve the performance potential.”
