IMX Seminar Series - Innovating the Batteries of the Future

Lithium-ion batteries are currently driving the transition to electric mobility and the integration of renewable energies into the electric grid. In my presentation, I will provide an overview of recent advances in increasing the energy density and cycle life of next-generation lithium-ion batteries and recent efforts in reducing the environmental footprint of battery cell manufacturing and recycling [1-4]. I will then focus on recent developments and current challenges in the field of solid-state batteries. Solid-state batteries with lithium metal anodes promise to deliver an increase in energy density on cell level of up to 60% and consequently raise high expectations in the automotive and aviation industry [5-6]. We recently demonstrated a solid electrolyte based on a polymerized ionic liquid offering high
ionic conductivity of almost 1 mS/cm at room temperature, low gravimetric density 1.6 g/cm3, high thermal and oxidative stability, stability vs lithium metal, soft mechanical properties, compatibility with solution processing, and potential for low cost, offering a promising pathway to a competitive solid-state battery technology [8-9].
[1] W. Zhao et al. Small, 2022, 2107357
[2] W. Zhao et al. Materials Today Energy, 2023, 34, 101301
[3] K. Egorov et al. ACS Appl. Materials and Interfaces, 2023, 15, 20075
[4] S. Liu et al. Batteries and Supercaps, 2023, 6, e20230022
[5] R. Grissa et al. ACS Appl. Materials and Interfaces, 2022, 14, 46001
[6] H. Braun et al. ACS Energy Lett., available online 10.1021/acsenergylett.3c02117
[7] C. Fu et al. Adv. Energy Materials, 2022, 242, 475
[8] G. Homann et al. submitted

Bio: Corsin Battaglia is directing the laboratory Materials for Energy Conversion at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories of Materials Science and is Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering at ETH Zurich and Adjunct Professor of Materials Science at EPFL. His current research focuses on sustainable next-generation lithium-ion batteries, post-lithium-ion batteries, and the electrochemical conversion of CO2 to synthetic fuels. After receiving his PhD in Physics from the Université de Neuchâtel, he was a postdoctoral researcher at EPFL, the University of California Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories, before joining Empa in 2014. He is co-author of more than 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications and 7 patent applications. He is currently the vice-president of the Swiss Battery Association iBAT and a member of the long-term large-scale European Battery Initiative Battery 2030+ and the Battery European Partnership Association.