Solid-State Protected Lithium Electrode (Energy Storage Innovations USA 2016)

There is little doubt that replacing the carbon anode in Li-ion cells with a lithium metal electrode that exhibits highly efficient cycling and safe behavior would lead to a dramatic increase in energy density (Wh/l and Wh/kg). In this presentation we will examine a number of development paths for solid-state anodes, as well as the evolution from Li-ion to safe, rechargeable Li metal batteries.

Steven Visco is the Chief Executive Officer, CTO, and co-founder and of PolyPlus Battery Company in Berkeley California. Dr. Visco graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts in 1977 and received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Brown University in 1982. Steven spent two years as a Postdoctoral Scientist at the University of California at Santa Barbara working on the research and development of solid electrolytes for advanced batteries. Dr. Visco then joined the staff at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as a Principal Investigator in the Materials Sciences Division in 1984 where his research interests have included solid-state ionic devices such as batteries, fuel cells, ionically conductive ceramic membranes, and electrolytic gas separation. In 1990 Steven Visco co-founded the PolyPlus Battery Company, based on technology developed at LBNL, a California Corporation in Berkeley with 27 employees. Dr. Visco serves both as CTO at PolyPlus and Principal Investigator at LBNL. Dr. Visco has published over 80 articles in scholarly journals, and holds more than 80 issued U.S. and foreign patents.

PolyPlus started operations in Berkeley, California in 1991 based upon inventions made by two scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and since then the Company has built one of the strongest battery development teams in the world resulting in breakthroughs in Lithium-Sulfur, Lithium-Air, and Lithium-Water batteries. PolyPlus has made a major breakthrough in the invention of protected lithium metal electrodes (PLEs). The result is the development of battery chemistries with unprecedented energy density, including rechargeable and non-rechargeable Lithium-Air and Lithium-Water batteries. The Company has recently demonstrated Li-Water batteries that have delivered 1300 Wh/kg, the highest specific energy ever measured for any battery chemistry.