A new phase of research harnessing materials for rechargeable batteries is beginning in the Department of Chemistry.

Our research is aimed at a better understanding of how lithium batteries work, and how to recharge them faster, for longer and more safely.

Professor Clare Grey

Laboratory refurbishment has commenced in readiness for a new programme of research on energy materials under the leadership of Clare Grey, the newly elected Geoffrey Moorhouse Gibson Professor of Chemistry. For the past 15 years, Professor Grey has led a research team at Stony Brook University, New York, investigating materials for energy storage and conversion.

Professor Grey’s particular focus among energy materials is electrodes for lithium-ion batteries. These lightweight and energy-dense materials have provided one of the most important recent breakthroughs in batteries used for consumer electronics, and are increasingly being considered by the automotive industry to power hybrid and electric vehicles, and for load levelling to manage the flow of electricity in a power grid.

‘To expedite the use of lithium-based materials in energy-efficient applications, there are some significant fundamental challenges relating to lithium chemistry that need to be overcome,’ said Professor Grey. ‘Our research is aimed at a better understanding of how lithium batteries work, and how to recharge them faster, for longer and more safely.’

One component of Professor Grey’s research is to develop new tools based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for visualising how ions are transported through the different materials in real time and to use this information to feed into the design of the next generation of batteries. The laboratory, which will incorporate a new solid-state NMR machine, has received funding from the Royal Society and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The opportunity of being part of Cambridge’s energy research agenda is an important draw for Professor Grey: ’I am very excited about the prospect of building a programme aimed at having significant impact in some of the key areas where solutions are needed in energy technology,’ she said.

Professor Jeremy Sanders, Chair of the School of Physical Sciences, added: ‘We are delighted to welcome Professor Grey, whose appointment not only brings an important new dimension to materials chemistry in the Department, but also represents a commitment to building research in the area of energy.’

For more information, please contact Professor Clare Grey (cpg27@cam.ac.uk).

 

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