The Breaking It Down series aims to inform and inspire people by putting advanced manufacturing technologies and processes into simpler terms.
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With electric vehicles (EVs) that get us places, cell phones that connect us to others, and utility-scale electric grid storage that powers our homes, batteries are all around us.
Batteries can be either mobile, like those in electric vehicles, or stationary, like those needed for utility-scale electricity grid storage.
Trivia Question
When was the first battery invented?
Read on to find out!
What Is a Battery Made of?
You’ve probably heard of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, which currently power consumer electronics and EVs. But next-generation batteries—including flow batteries and solid-state—are proving to have additional benefits, such as improved performance (like lasting longer between each charge) and safety, as well as potential cost savings.
These next-generation batteries may also use different materials that purposely reduce or eliminate the use of critical materials, such as lithium, to achieve those gains.
Lithium- or Sodium-Ion Batteries
The components of most (Li-ion or sodium-ion [Na-ion]) batteries you use regularly include:
- Electrodes (cathode, or positive end and anode, or negative end)
- Electrolytes, which are generally liquid solutions
- A separator, which keeps electrodes and electrolytes separate and is made of metal
- A current collector, which stores the energy.
Today’s Li-Ion Batteries
Tomorrow’s Na-Ion Batteries
Solid-State and Flow Batteries
Tomorrow’s Solid-State Batteries
Solid-state batteries use solid electrolyte solutions, which don’t need a different separator. That makes them safer because they are less prone to leakage from damage or swelling in hot temperatures.
Tomorrow’s Flow Batteries
Flow batteries, which are powered by reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions, involve two different liquid electrolytes that pass ions or protons back and forth through a porous membrane. These batteries can store larger amounts of energy—as much as the size of the electrolyte cells can contain—and don’t use flammable or polluting materials.
What Are Next-Generation Batteries Used for?
Innovations in battery technology over recent decades have unlocked a wide range of technologies for various uses, many of which we rely on in our daily lives, such as:
- Portable electronics, like phones, laptops, power tools, wearable technology, sensors, and augmented reality devices.
- Transportation, including EVs, e-bikes, scooters, drones, boats, or ferries.
- Stationary storage, such as grid-scale energy storage to integrate advanced energy sources, balance supply and demand, and provide backup power.
- Industry, providing uninterrupted power supply for critical equipment in case of outages.
- Medical devices, which can be portable and implantable, such as insulin pumps, pacemakers, and hearing aids.
What Are the Advantages and Challenges for Batteries?
Since their invention, batteries have come to play a crucial role in enabling wider adoption of advanced energy and transportation technology.
Think about it: Having a place to store energy on the electric grid can allow advanced energy technology—like solar—to produce and save energy when conditions are optimal, ensuring there’s round-the-clock reliable energy on those (literal) rainy days.
Next-generation batteries are also safer (less likely to combust, for example), try to avoid using critical materials that require imports, rare minerals, or digging into the earth, and can store more energy (letting you drive further in your electric vehicle before finding a charging station, for example).
How Are We Supporting Next-Generation Batteries?
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) is helping the U.S. domestic manufacturing supply chain grow to fulfill the increased demand for next-generation batteries.
Trivia Answer
The first battery was invented by Italian physicist Alessandro Volta in 1800 and eponymously named the “Voltaic Pile”. (The unit of electromotive force, “volt”, also comes from Volta).
Through DOE and AMMTO support, members of the industry, academia, government, and entrepreneurial sectors are reducing costs and increasing the availability and performance of next-generation batteries to meet future demand.
Instead of starting from scratch every time, manufacturers can customize and expand upon standardized tools and methods—often referred to as platform manufacturing technologies—that are designed to be flexible and adaptable, saving manufacturers time and resources.
That can also reduce the time to market for next-generation energy storage materials and devices and bridge knowledge gaps between small-scale R&D and large-scale commercial manufacturing, leading to immediate impact, increasing the commercial domestic supply of battery storage devices.
With a more robust battery manufacturing industry, not only can we increase the nation’s energy independence, but we can also create good-paying jobs for Americans.
Get Involved!
Learn more about the opportunities we’re supporting to bring next-generation batteries to the forefront.
Apply to Open Funding
- Funding Opportunity: Platform Technologies for Transformative Battery Manufacturing
- Lab Call: Battery Manufacturing Lab Call
- Funding Opportunity: Li-Ion Battery Recycling and Remanufacturing Technologies
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