. 24/7 Space News .
ENERGY TECH
Researchers challenge status quo of battery commercialization
by Staff Writers
Chicago IL (SPX) Sep 13, 2017


illustration only

While more efficient, effective, and economical batteries are critical to the world's clean energy future, the path to bringing such technologies to market over the last 25 years is overwhelmingly littered with failure.

A pair of Northwestern University researchers and a Northwestern-affiliated startup, however, are touting a different way and have pulled inspiration from a seemingly unlikely place: the pharmaceutical world.

In a recent paper published in MRS Energy and Sustainability, Vinayak Dravid, the Abraham Harris Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering, his graduate student Eve Hanson, and SiNode Systems co-founder and CEO Samir Mayekar propose an updated model of U.S. battery commercialization.

The model is informed by pharma, an industry that faces many similar commercialization challenges yet, unlike energy, boasts a deep history of successful market debuts.

As the head of Chicago-based SiNode Systems, Mayekar confronts the challenges of battery commercialization daily. The startup is commercializing a novel silicon anode technology based on research from the lab of Harold Kung, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern, but faces daunting technical and market hurdles.

Mayekar approached Dravid and Hanson to conduct a formal study of applying the pharma model to energy, believing that incorporating elements of the pharma model into battery commercialization efforts could propel the number of success stories.

"The question was how could we beat the odds and drive the battery innovation ecosystem to be a better version of its current self," Dravid said.

Studying pharma successes through interviews with industry leaders and investors as well as published reports, Dravid and Hanson noted distinct differences between pharma and energy - namely, pharma being a high-margin business compared to the commoditized battery sector - but also striking similarities that could inform energy's commercialization efforts.

Together with Mayekar, they identified a series of tailored proposals for entrepreneurs, investors, manufacturers, and policy makers to fuel battery commercialization, including:

+ Initially pursuing niche, higher-margin applications to bring in early revenue and help prove out the technology

+ Developing strategic partnerships and joint development agreements with large battery companies to enhance credibility, certify data, and consider how technologies might be manufactured and integrated into the supply chain

+ Targeting capital raises to specific exit scenarios to enhance investor returns and better align with the battery market's realities

+ Focusing on customer-led performance metrics, rather than academic figures of merit, as early as possible to more fully understand the market opportunity

With more economical and energy-dense batteries holding the potential to solve contemporary energy challenges - such as balancing the intermittency problems of renewables and making possible electric transportation fleets - the researchers believe applying the pharma-inspired development pipeline to batteries can breed rich, transformative technologies.

"We think this is a way for more battery startups to succeed," Hanson said. "Bringing more innovative battery technologies to market would have impacts across the clean energy and electronics industries. Perhaps even more important is this core idea of multidisciplinary approach to address complex technological challenges that require diverse perspectives and expertise."

ENERGY TECH
A revolution in lithium-ion batteries is becoming more realistic
Kracrow, Poland (SPX) Sep 13, 2017
The modern world relies on portable electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, cameras or camcorders. Many of these devices are powered by lithium-ion batteries, which could be smaller, lighter, safer and more efficient if the liquid electrolytes they contain were replaced by solids. A promising candidate for a solid-state electrolyte is a new class of materials based on lithium c ... read more

Related Links
Northwestern University
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

ENERGY TECH
Voyager Spacecraft: 40 Years of Solar System Discoveries

Trump names former Navy aviator to head NASA

What's hot and what's not at Berlin's IFA tech fair

'Star Trek' actor Shatner sends message to Voyager

ENERGY TECH
Rocket fever launches UB students to engineering competition in New Mexico

NASA Concludes Summer of Testing with Fifth Flight Controller Hot Fire

ISRO suspects pyro elements failed to separate rocket's heat shield

Ariane 5 rocket aborts Guiana lift-off in final seconds

ENERGY TECH
Discovery of boron on Mars adds to evidence for habitability

Life on Mars: Let's Try Oman Desert First for Space Mission

Citizen scientists spot Martian 'spiders' in unexpected places

Big dishes band together

ENERGY TECH
China, Russia to Have Smooth Space Cooperation, Says Expert

Kuaizhou-11 to send six satellites into space

Russia, China May Sign 5-Year Agreement on Joint Space Exploration

ESA and Chinese astronauts train together

ENERGY TECH
Bids for government funding prove strong interest in LaunchUK

Blue Sky Network Reaffirms Commitment to Brazilian Market

India to Launch Exclusive Satellite for Afghanistan

Lockheed Martin invests $350M in state-of-the-art satellite production facility

ENERGY TECH
New microscopy method for quick and reliable 3-D imaging of curvilinear nanostructures

Chinese video site offers virtual escape from 'boring' reality

Chinese video site offers virtual escape from 'boring' reality

Molecules move faster near sticky surfaces

ENERGY TECH
Climate change for aliens

X-Rays Reveal Temperament of Possible Planet-Hosting Stars

Earth as Hybrid Planet: The Anthropocene Era in Astrobiological Context

Could TRAPPIST-1's Seven Earth-size Planets Have Gas Giant Siblings

ENERGY TECH
Pluto features given first official names

Jupiter's Auroras Present a Powerful Mystery

New Horizons Files Flight Plan for 2019 Flyby

Juno Scientists Prepare for Seventh Science Pass of Jupiter









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.