Electric vehicles today can’t travel 300 miles on a single charge because lithium-ion batteries simply cannot store enough energy. This project investigates three radical alternatives: the lithium-air battery, solid-state hydrogen storage, and solid-state oxygen storage—technologies that could break the range barrier and decarbonise the 25% of CO₂ emissions that come from transport. The core problem is that current batteries hit a fundamental energy-density ceiling. Lithium-air batteries promise far more stored energy than lithium-ion, but they suffer from chemical instability and short lifetimes. Hydrogen fuel cells need safe, compact solid-state storage—not bulky pressurised tanks. Oxygen storage, using transition-metal compounds, could feed both lithium-air cells and reversible fuel cells. By working across these fields simultaneously, the team aims to solve cross-cutting challenges—for example, how to manage oxygen flow in a battery and in a fuel cell using the same materials science. If successful, the research could lead to electric cars with driving ranges comparable to petrol vehicles, at lower cost than today’s batteries. It might also enable hydrogen-powered trucks or ammonia fuel cells for heavy transport. This is fundamental science with a clear long-term application: transforming how vehicles store and use energy, without waiting for incremental improvements to lithium-ion.
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Energy storage is more important today than at any other time in history. Approx. 25% of CO2 emissions arise from burning fossil fuels in transportation. It is widely acknowledged that decarbonising transport is imperative and involves electrification.The greatest challenge facing electrification of transport is energy storage. Although electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (EVs) will be with us in increasing numbers over the next decade, achieving a step change in driving range (e.g. the often stated Holy Grail of +300 miles) is impossible with the storage technologies available now and in the near term (lithium-ion batteries). Here we propose to investigate energy storage technologies far beyond the current horizon and with the potential to deliver a step change in performance of electric vehicles. We focus in particular on the Li-air battery, hydrogen and oxygen storage, in line with the scope of the call. These technologies fit into an overall vision for future hybrid EVs in which the Li-air battery, the hydrogen fuel cell (or perhaps ammonia fuel cell) and the reversible fuel cell (effectively a hydrogen-oxygen battery) play key roles. The Li-air battery has the potential to store far more energy than current generation lithium batteries but major hurdles remain to be overcome. Here we address some of the key hurdles facing a step change of Li-air batteries, opening the way to practical Li-air batteries in the longer term capable of a much extended driving range and available at lower cost than today and hence transforming transportation.Similarly we address the key challenge of hydrogen storage by a concerted series of approaches to identify the solid state stores that meet the criteria for a transformation in the mobile storage of hydrogen for transport. We also examine the radical concept of solid state oxygen storage using transition metal and peroxo compounds. Such stores would find applications as sources and sinks of O for the cathode in a Li-air cell or for a reversible fuel cell. By working together we break down the traditional boundaries between these research fields, enable the cross-fertilisation of ideas that may lead to innovative solutions to the problems of each field and train personnel in a culture of working across these boundaries.
Duncan Gregory (Co-Investigator)John Irvine (Co-Investigator)Keith Scott (Co-Investigator)P Bruce (Principal Investigator)Paul Connor (Co-Investigator)Peter Hall (Co-Investigator)
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