Increased demand for energy storage in consumer electronics, electric vehicles and the power grid presents opportunities and challenges for rechargeable battery research and development. Lithium ion batteries have been the dominant power source for consumer electronics. This lecture reviews the existing technology and presents promising future battery technologies that could have significantly higher energy density, lower cost, better safety and longer life. Novel battery chemistries and materials are key to a revolutionary change. SLAC facilities can play an important role in fundamental and applied research on batteries.
Yi Cui is an associate professor at Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Science and Technology of China in 1998 and a PhD from Harvard University in 2002. He was a Miller Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley from 2003 to 2005. Cui is an associate editor of Nano Letters and a co-director of the Bay Area Photovoltaic Consortium, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. He founded Amprius Inc. in 2008 to commercialize high-energy battery technology.
