Iowa State University researchers work to build new batteries for energy storage

As new technologies consume more power and alternative energy sources become increasingly necessary to fuel Iowans’ lives, Iowa State University researchers are working to create new batteries from accessible materials to store power from variable sources.

Steve Martin and Patrick Johnson, both materials science and engineering professors at ISU, have earned a nearly $459,000 grant from the Iowa Energy Center to develop batteries using sodium, waste glass, biochar and sulfur — materials they’ve already tested and found viable.

Most of the materials the team is using to make these batteries are accessible in Iowa — sodium to replace lithium, waste glass for the separator, and biochar for the anode. Sulfur, which will be used for the cathode, can’t be purchased from anywhere in Iowa, Martin said, but the petroleum industry byproduct is low-cost and easy to acquire.

While the new batteries will operate similarly to lithium-ion batteries, Martin said their voltage will be lower, requiring more batteries stacked together to reach the lithium voltage. Johnson added these batteries will be pouch cells, which are used commercially.

When it’s time to actually put together the battery’s parts and test it, they’ll be able to do so at a battery fabrication and testing center now up and running at ISU. Once the team has reached the point where they have assembled batteries with performance data gathered, Martin said they will explore the potentials of launching their own startup company or licensing the technology to another battery company.