STFC Global Challenge Network in Battery Science and Technology
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Chemical Engineering
Abstract
Battery technologies are already a part of our day-to-day lives, particularly through their application in electronic devices. Indeed, the development of Li- based batteries was driven by the consumer electronics industry. However, in the future a range of battery technologies (not limited to Li-ion) will play an increasing role in our lives with applications as diverse as automotive power trains and grid storage to micro-batteries for "on micro-chip" power and biomedical batteries to power pacemakers.
In order to extend and optimise and the application of these devices in a range of environments, fundamental improvements to our understanding of the fundamental processes occurring in batteries are essential. Large-scale facilities research is essential to achieve this, using a range of techniques at neutron, synchrotron and high performance computing facilities.
Utilising a range of neutron, x-ray or HPC techniques in isolation provides opportunities to improve understanding of batteries - by combining the strengths of world leading practitioners across a range of complementary techniques and facilities we will have a unique opportunity to rapidly advance the field of battery science, and thorough our partnerships with industry translate this leading research into commercial reality.
In order to extend and optimise and the application of these devices in a range of environments, fundamental improvements to our understanding of the fundamental processes occurring in batteries are essential. Large-scale facilities research is essential to achieve this, using a range of techniques at neutron, synchrotron and high performance computing facilities.
Utilising a range of neutron, x-ray or HPC techniques in isolation provides opportunities to improve understanding of batteries - by combining the strengths of world leading practitioners across a range of complementary techniques and facilities we will have a unique opportunity to rapidly advance the field of battery science, and thorough our partnerships with industry translate this leading research into commercial reality.
Planned Impact
This proposal seeks to bring together world leading researchers and industrial partners tackling some of the most important issues in battery science and technology by the use of large scale facilities research. The impact of the research will be widespread and ultimately lead to the development and proliferation of higher performance batteries. This will be achieved through world-class research, dissemination of best practice and defined routes for stakeholder engagement.
In order to maximize the impact of this proposal for members, industry, the wider research community and ultimately society in general, we have defined key goals and enabling activities for dissemination. These include frameworks for stakeholder engagement and a dedicated Co-I to promote and facilitate industrial engagement, IP generation and technology transfer.
Network goals will be achieved with defined frameworks for:
Promoting industrial engagement
Engaging beneficiaries outside the direct research community
Technique standardisation & Knowledge Exchange
Linking to other relevant networks
Informing future research funding
Routes for Technology Transfer
Facilitating cross-network collaboration
Enhancing and extending network membership
In order to maximize the impact of this proposal for members, industry, the wider research community and ultimately society in general, we have defined key goals and enabling activities for dissemination. These include frameworks for stakeholder engagement and a dedicated Co-I to promote and facilitate industrial engagement, IP generation and technology transfer.
Network goals will be achieved with defined frameworks for:
Promoting industrial engagement
Engaging beneficiaries outside the direct research community
Technique standardisation & Knowledge Exchange
Linking to other relevant networks
Informing future research funding
Routes for Technology Transfer
Facilitating cross-network collaboration
Enhancing and extending network membership
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Paul Shearing (Principal Investigator) | |
| Daniel Brett (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Binninger T
(2017)
Capacitive electronic metal-support interactions: Outer surface charging of supported catalyst particles
in Physical Review B
Biton M
(2016)
Enhanced Imaging of Lithium Ion Battery Electrode Materials
in Journal of The Electrochemical Society
Biton Moshiel
(2017)
Advanced 3D imaging and quantification of battery materials
Booth SG
(2017)
The offset droplet: a new methodology for studying the solid/water interface using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.
in Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal
Chen X
(2018)
Strain-Driven Mn-Reorganization in Overlithiated Li x Mn 2 O 4 Epitaxial Thin-Film Electrodes
in ACS Applied Energy Materials
Dong H
(2021)
Insights on Flexible Zinc-Ion Batteries from Lab Research to Commercialization.
in Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
Du W
(2021)
A Multiscale X-Ray Tomography Study of the Cycled-Induced Degradation in Magnesium-Sulfur Batteries.
in Small methods
Du W
(2021)
A Multiscale X-Ray Tomography Study of the Cycled-Induced Degradation in Magnesium-Sulfur Batteries.
in Small methods
Dunstan M
(2016)
Large scale computational screening and experimental discovery of novel materials for high temperature CO 2 capture
in Energy & Environmental Science
Finegan DP
(2015)
In-operando high-speed tomography of lithium-ion batteries during thermal runaway.
in Nature communications
| Description | Electrochemical devices are already part of our day-to-day lives, particularly Li-ion batteries that have transformed modern life through their ubiquitous application in consumer electronics. In the future, these devices will play an increasing role in our lives, from batteries that will power our cars and buses to fuel cells that will provide grid independent electricity. The UK has played a crucial role in the discovery and development of these devices, and through continuing cutting edge research at universities, national labs and companies, remains at the forefront of electrochemical device research. Since 2013, the STFC Global Challenge Network in Batteries and Electrochemical Energy Devices (the Network) has helped to consolidate the UK research community active in this area, seed new research and collaborations, and through its advocacy has promoted the UK as a world leader in this field. Initially funded through the STFC Futures Programme to cater to the battery research community, the Network expanded its remit to cover a broader field of 'electrochemical energy device research' including fuel cells. Since 2013 the Network has engaged with more than 400 researchers from more than 50 institutions in 11 countries. The network has been overseen by a pro-active international Steering Committee drawn from academia, national labs and industry. In Phase 2, we will continue with this remit to serve the broader electrochemical energy research community. The Network was founded with the objective to "bring together an international community of researchers from industry, academia and national laboratories with a shared interest in battery and electrochemical energy device research", to seed lasting collaborations, establish cross-discipline communication and to facilitate and disseminate cutting edge inter-disciplinary research, the Network was also founded to promote industry engagement with large scale facilities. The success of the network has been ensured by regular meetings and networking events, advocacy by our science board, engagement with policy makers and other stakeholders, and support for researcher mobility. The Network's annual meeting has so far attracted close to 200 people over 3 years, and has become a renowned scientific meeting and a showcase for cutting edge research at facilities in the UK and further afield: the international audience is drawn from academia, industry and national facilities. In addition we have successfully funded satellite meetings, including the 'Advances in Li-Battery' series and have co-organized international meetings such as the UK Energy Storage Conference. Early Career Award: the awards programme was established to promote researcher mobility, and to strengthen ties between UK universities and facilities with their international counterparts. The scheme has been consistently over subscribed - to date we have funded more than 40 researchers, involving 35 institutions across 9 countries. As well as facilitating cutting edge science, the experience of securing independent funding has provided valuable career development for researchers seeking their first academic position. Through the network activities we have extensively supported the building of academic collaborations,both in the UK and further afield, this has been promoted by our networking events and researcher mobility grants, which have led to the publication of cutting edge science (for example in Nature Comms and Chem Mater (with many more in progress). Case studies of network activities, and science highlights can be found in recent publications available via our website (see URL below). The network has also engaged extensively with policy makers in the UK and internationally including road mapping for the Dept. for Transport, engagement with parliament and advocacy of the UK community to international groups (notably the US Joint Center for Energy Storage Research). |
| Exploitation Route | Our impact has been primarily on the electrochemical device community, however we have reached further afield to engage with the wider community. The Network has championed inclusive community engagement, and has successfully engaged with a number of other stakeholder groups, including the EPSRC Energy Storage Research Network (ESRN), Catalyst Hub, High Value Manufacturing Catapult (WMG), the British Council (with whom we co-sponsored the UK/Brazil 2015 ELSOL workshop) and the Harwell Imaging Partnership. By close partnering with the major STFC facilities (Isis, Diamond, CLF, Hartree) we have brought together beam line scientists with new users, and provided a bridge between computational and experimental research communities. Through our STFC Early Career Award, this is already supporting world-leading science. The Network has also supported the dissemination of research through its website and by literature which details the networking and scientific achievements of the Network. |
| Sectors | Chemicals,Education,Energy,Environment,Transport |
| URL | http://stfcbatteries.org/science-highlights/ |
| Description | We aim to promote the UK as a leading research power in the field of electrochemical energy technology. The network has helped to consolidate the UK research community active in this area, seed new research and collaborations, and through its advocacy has promoted the UK as a world leader in this field. Some examples of our impacts are: Scientific Impact: Through the network activities we have had notable successes in building academic collaborations, this has been promoted by our networking events and researcher mobility grants, which have led to the publication of cutting edge science, some of which are included here, with many more publications supported by the network still in progress. Case studies of network activities, and science highlights can be found in recent publications available via our website Policy Impact: alongside the STFC Futures Programme, the Network co-organised a road-mapping event 'Batteries for Transport Power Trains up to 2050' leading to the publication of a white paper for the Dept. for Transport. The Network was also presented at the Houses of Parliament RCUK Energy Showcase in early 2015, which provided further opportunities to engage with policy makers. Industry Impact: the 2014 Industry Day welcomed around 50 industrially focused researchers to RAL for a one-day conference and an opportunity to visit world leading research facilities - promoting industry engagement with the STFC infrastructure. Education and Career Development: The network has promoted career development through the sponsorship of a Society of Chemical Industries PhD Career Fair, and through the Early Career Researchers Conference an event organised 'by early career researchers, for early career researchers'. Furthermore, in 2015 we have sponsored training opportunities for researchers at the Bath Electrochemical Spectroscopy Summer School, The WMG Battery School and The Hartree Centre Summer School. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
| Sector | Chemicals,Education,Energy,Environment,Transport |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
| Description | Dept. for Transport Horizon Scanning Acticity - Battery for Future Power Trains to 2015 |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Description | Covalently stabilised caboneous catalyst supports for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells and Electrolyses |
| Amount | £138,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/J016454/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2015 |
| End | 04/2017 |
| Description | STFC Global Challenge Network Phase 2 |
| Amount | £500,599 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ST/N002385/1 |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2016 |
| End | 02/2018 |
| Description | STFC Batteries Annual Meeting 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | workshop facilitator |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | The annual meeting for the network attracted an international audience with more than 70 delegates over 2 days International conference |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | STFC Industry Day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Workshop Facilitator |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Industry engagement day held at RAL - more than 50 registrants across industry, national labs, universities - full day of talks and tours of ISIS and DLS Engagement of UK plc with large scale STFC facilties |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://stfcbatteries.org/events/past-events/industry-day-2014/ |
| Description | STFC Network Inaugural Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Workshop Facilitator |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Inaugural meeting of the STFC Network . |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | http://stfcbatteries.org/events/past-events/inaugural-meeting-2728th-june-2013/ |
| Description | UCell |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Founder member of UCell - mulitiple events and outreach programmes created: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucell |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016 |
| URL | https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucell |
| Description | UKES Conference 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | workshop facilitator |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | The UKES 2014 is an international conferene that has been co-organised by STFC batteries and the EPSRC ESRN International conference |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://ukenergystorage.co/ |
| Description | Webinar: X-ray Tomography as a Tool for Characterisation of Redox Flow Battery Electrodes (Rhodri Jervis) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | As part of the SFTC Batteries network this webinar discussed the use of x-ray CT for studying redox flow batteries and materials. Abstract: Redox flow batteries (RFBs) are seen as a promising technology for grid-scale storage given their rapid reversibility and separation of power and energy capacities, the latter being dependent purely on the volume of electrolyte utilised in the device. Most RFBs employ carbon fibre based electrodes that act as both the reaction surface for redox half-reactions and the diffusion medium through which the electrolyte is flowed. Understanding of the microstructure of the carbon electrodes is therefore vital in order to understand how the batteries behave under different conditions. Recently, the potential of X-ray imaging as a diagnostic tool for the performance of carbon felts has been demonstrated, and the use of structural information obtained from X-ray computed tomography (CT) in modelling of the pressure drop at varied compression has been explored. X-ray CT has also recently been used in the characterisation and modelling of electrospun fibrous mats with fibre sizes much smaller than those used in commercially available carbon felts. In this talk I will discuss the use of in situ X-ray CT for the determination of various parameters such as porosity, tortuosity factor and pore size distribution of flow battery materials. In addition, the Lattice Boltzmann method is applied to structures obtained from X-ray CT of electrospun carbon fibre mats in order to understand the fluid flow properties of the electrode materials from their microstructure. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.stfcbatteries.org/events/2020/6/26-webinar-rhod-jervis |
| Description | Workshop: advances in Li Battery Research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Workshop Facilitator |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Meeting to take place April 2014 - 75 registrants from UK across academia and industry Meeting to take place April 2014 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://stfcbatteries.org/events/satellite-event-2nd-workshop-in-advances-in-li-battery-research/ |