Energy Storage

Ultrahigh‐capacity and fire‐resistant batteries have been developed. The new battery has improved both the performance and safety of the "lithium-sulfur batteries," which have much larger capacities than commercialized lithium ion batteries, thus is easy to manufacture via the printing process.

Innolith is a lithium-ion battery maker founded in October 2018. It is headquartered in Basel, but the company's laboratory is in Bruchsal, Germany.

Volkswagen provides a glimpse into the future in which the search for charging stations for electric cars comes to an end. Volkswagen Group Components' mobile charging robot takes over this task - and drives to the electric car completely autonomously.

Ahhm Radiant Systems LLC specialise in roll-bonded aluminium with integrated coolant channels for applications in residential buildings. In the last few years they have become involved in the automotive sector and have an interest in the thermal management of electric vehicles.

Highview Power Storage and Encore Renewable Energy jointly announced plans to develop the United States' first long duration, liquid air energy storage system. This facility will be a minimum of 50MW, provide in excess of eight hours of storage and will be located in northern Vermont.

An electronic biosensor powered using the glucose in bodily fluids has been developed by researchers. The device pairs an electron-transporting polymer with an enzyme that extracts electrons from its reaction with glucose to drive its circuitry. The plastic biosensor could act as a continuous monitor of key health indicators, such as blood sugar levels in diabetes patients.

Northvolt is making swift progress with its blueprint for sustainable battery manufacturing and is positioned to deliver lithium-ion cells to European markets with a minimal environmental footprint.

In a research result that potentially could expand the market for tiny energy-storage units in medical implantable, injectable and wearable solutions, CEA-Leti has fabricated all-solid, inorganic thin-film batteries that demonstrate better performance than existing devices.

BioSolar Inc plans to evolve its technology to become a larger scale developer of breakthrough battery technologies for the electric vehicle market.

NAWA Racer is inspired by 1960s café racers but is powered by a world-first 'hybrid' battery system, which combines next-gen ultracapacitors with lithium-ion offering ten times more power and five times more energy than existing ultracapacitors.

Few of the giant car makers have shown urgency in transitioning away from the internal combustion engine. What's more, the automotive market is set to decline once again in 2019 whilst electrifying newcomers made huge gains in front of sleeping incumbents' noses. Although a large fraction of this is orders (not deliveries), if OEMs do not wake up now, they never will.

IBM Research is building on a long history of materials science innovation to unveil a new battery discovery. This new research could help eliminate the need for heavy metals in battery production and transform the long-term sustainability of many elements of our energy infrastructure.

Chemists have discovered a method that could turn plastic waste into valuable chemicals by using sunlight. In lab experiments, the research team mixed plastics with their catalyst in a solvent, which allows the solution to harness light energy and convert the dissolved plastics into formic acid - a chemical used in fuel cells to produce electricity.

Volvo Buses is now giving a second life to batteries from electric buses. In a unique cooperation with Stena Property and Stena Recycling's subsidiary BatteryLoop, bus batteries are used for energy storage and as an energy source in Gothenburg's Fyrklövern residential complex. The project is a step towards circular economy in electromobility creating new commercial possibilities for companies.

Previously SiNode, Nanograf develop silicon-graphene composite electrodes for Li-ion batteries. They presented at the IDTechEx Show USA 2019.

Thermal interface materials (TIM) play a crucial role in numerous sectors, from lithium-ion batteries to 5G base stations, LEDs, consumer electronics and more. Heat dissipation is often on the of the limiting factors as many industries look to increase power and reduce the size.

With the launch of wearable devices and smartphones that require high capacity of electricity such as foldable phones and 5G phones, the interest in batteries are increasing and various battery types are developed. For example, flexible batteries embedded in the mobile watch band or wireless power sharing batteries that have developed from wireless charging.

Visblue are a Danish start-up developing a modular vanadium redox flow battery. IDTechEx caught up with marketing manager Katharina Laursen.

Solid-state Li-ion thin film batteries are small, compact and may have flexible construction. They don't contain any aggressive liquid substances, so they are safe to use.

A three-year scientific research project currently underway at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory is showing promising results to unlock the untapped potential of lead batteries. Lead batteries currently supply over 70% of the world's rechargeable battery energy needs. Yet, possibilities exist to expand their performance to meet growing energy storage and transportation demands.