Iowa State University engineers are developing advanced battery technology utilizing readily available resources from Iowa to store wind energy. The project aims to create "ultra-low-cost, ultra-high-performance" batteries.
Project Details
Steve W. Martin, a lead researcher, identified key materials under consideration:
- Sodium: Significantly cheaper than lithium and widely available.
- Waste glass: Sourced from local recycling efforts.
- Biochar: A co-product from biomass heating, used in renewable fuel production, with several Iowa companies creating it.
- Sulfur: A co-product of oil refining, the only material not sourced directly from Iowa but transported via the Mississippi River.
These materials are planned for battery components. The battery's design incorporates a sulfur cathode, a biochar anode, and a sodium-ion conducting glass separator. Most materials can be sourced, in part or whole, from renewable sources within Iowa.
Funding and Goals
The Iowa Energy Center supports this initiative with a three-year, $458,743 grant to Martin and Patrick Johnson, an Iowa State professor of materials science and engineering. This builds on a previous $480,656 grant from 2019. The project seeks to add value to local materials through their application in industrially scalable batteries.
The research focuses on new battery technologies, addressing challenges like using waste glass in separators and biochar in anodes, and substituting expensive lithium with cheaper sodium. Martin's team is concentrating on the sodium glass separator and sulfur cathode, while Johnson's group is researching the biochar anode.
Deliverables and Challenges
Expected outcomes include:
- New battery technologies and intellectual property (patents, scientific publications).
- Educational advancements through doctoral theses and undergraduate mentorship for students like Alec Wakefield, Isuru Gusthigngnawadu, Maggie Macoskey, and Brianna Dotzler.
- Partnerships with Iowa companies producing biochar.
- Potential for a startup company, with discussions already underway with Iowa State's Startup Factory.
Researchers acknowledge the "daunting technical challenges" involved in developing solid-state, glass-based rechargeable batteries with increased energy density, capacity retention, and the ability to scale up for industrial applications, potentially two to three times larger than typical electric vehicle batteries. A new battery fabrication and testing center will aid development.