San Jose State University
09/26/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/26/2024 15:06
San José State Joins Aqueous Battery Consortium for Clean Energy Storage
San José State recently joined the Aqueous Battery Consortium, an energy hub research project supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) and led by Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The project aims to find a reliable, sustainable way to store electricity, partially by creating a rechargeable battery made mostly of water (the "aqueous" part of the consortium) and other abundant materials.
The project may receive up to $62.5 million over five years as part of the DOE's Energy Innovation Hubs program.
Current aqueous batteries, including lead-acid batteries, don't hold much energy, and the lead they contain is harmful. Lithium-ion batteries, another current option, aren't cost-effective. This new consortium aims to make the new batteries more environmentally safe, much cheaper to produce and more efficient.
The team consists of 31 leading battery scientists, engineers and physicists from 12 universities in North America, as well as from SLAC, the U.S. Army Research Laband the U.S. Naval Research Lab.
San José State's contribution to the project comes throughDahyun Oh, associate professor of materials engineering. She is on two of the nine teams that structure the project: the interface team and the team on materials design and synthesis.
She adds, "My lab, the Energy Materials Laboratory, will contribute to the understanding of the interface between aqueous electrolytes and electrodes. In batteries, interfaces play a crucial role in enabling battery reactions, and the interfacial behavior with aqueous electrolytes is less understood compared to organic electrolyte systems."
Her team feels "grateful and fortunate" to be included in this effort, which she believes will help people "recognize the potential of SJSU, its faculty and its students."
"This is an absolutely groundbreaking opportunity for my career, as well as for the SJSU students who will join this project," she says. "Collaborative research is especially important for students at minority-serving institutions (MSI), as they have fewer opportunities to engage with graduate or postgraduate-level researchers. This consortium will provide a golden opportunity for students to learn, engage, develop research skills and build networks."
After all, a next-generation, environmentally-friendly battery could help power the world, and SJSU will be an integral part of this effort. As Oh concludes, "We have numerous opportunities to offer, and our national recognition continues to grow."