The expansion in the use of renewable energy resources is not only of paramount importance, it is also urgent. Fossil fuels are limited in supply and their use entails devastating environmental consequences such as atmospheric pollution and climate change. Fortunately, major advances have been achieved in the generation of energy from renewable resources including sun and wind, but unfortunately, the energy is not generated when and where it is needed. This issue could be easily solved with batteries to store the energy, but unfortunately, batteries do not last long enough and they are too expensive. Batteries are also too heavy and bulky, and this is particularly problematic for zero-emission electric vehicles. It is clear that developing better batteries is crucial for the future.
We propose to set up a new capability that will revolutionize the tools we have to understand and design better batteries. The new capability will enable the characterisation of the chemistry, elemental composition and structure/morphology of batteries and battery components on a scale far below the diameter of a human hair. This will be achieved with an integrated instrument that uses an intelligent positioning system to precisely spatially correlate the morphological characterisation (done with an electron microscope), the elemental composition (done with a special element-sensitive detector) and the chemical structure (done with a Raman microscope). By bringing together these three techniques we will greatly improve our understanding of the complex and spatially heterogeneous reactivity of real battery materials. This will generate unique insights at the forefront of research worldwide for the design of new strategies to build better batteries.
We will establish an inclusive and collaborative research community around this new capability, binging together researchers in industry and university, and fostering innovative approaches and new research projects and directions. The new capability will facilitating cooperation, team work and scientific discussions among researchers with different backgrounds and areas of expertise.