Towards lightweighting electrified transport system – novel multifunctional batteries

Research Project, 2019

There is a compelling argument for materials with combined structural and energy storage capabilities. Whilst conventional engineering design focuses on compartmentalisation, i.e. minimising the mass/volume of monofunctional subsystems to deliver the best solution, multifunctionality via the use of composites is a route by which lightweighting can be achieved. We will focus on such a multifunctional device called structural composite battery, which can simultaneously carry mechanical loads and store energy – imagine that the panels of an electric car also store energy! The aim of the initiative is to build up a strong interdisciplinary team to meet the scientific and engineering challenges of structural composite batteries. Within this team we will establish an active feedback loop between processing–microstructure–performance to enable in-depth understanding of the complicated electrochemical and mechanical mechanisms in structural composite batteries, and ultimately realize a demonstration battery with an energy density of 100 Wh/kg, which is comparable with state-of-the-art batteries for electric vehicles, and a shear modulus of 1 GPa.