The inventor of the core technology is Don Sadoway, MIT Professor of Materials Chemistry, one of the schools most popular professors and sought-after speakers.
Using seed money from within MIT, Sadoway and his team invented the liquid metal battery or, more academically, a process called Reversible Ambipolar Electrolysis.
Sadoway claims that the all-liquid configuration is self-assembling and is expected to be scalable at low cost. Furthermore, this technology may have a shot at being cheaper than sodium sulfur (NaS) batteries.
Across the country in Long Beach, CA, Ionex has created the Energy Storage Systema 1-megawatt-hour unit using large-format prismatic batteries based on lithium iron phosphate (LiFePo4). These batteries are capable of producing 1 megawatt or 2 megawatts of continuous AC power from a 40-foot shipping container weighing 35,000 kilograms, which can be mounted on a concrete pad or on a wheeled trailer.
And then theres A123, who specialize in nanophosphate lithium-ion batteries and systems. With a corporate revenue mix of 50 percent transportation, 40 percent grid, and 10 percent consumer, A123 provides advanced technology solutions at the cell, module and system levels.
Finally, theres stealthy battery startup Amprius, whove raised $25 million and
boast investors like Trident, Googles Eric Schmidt, and Stanford University. The firm is using a silicon nanostructure to replace a carbon anode system in batteries.
CEO Kang Sun claims that silicon has an intrinsic energy density ten times higher than carbon. He called Amprius late science stage, early engineering stage and noted that the firms technology is four times better than current technology.
As entrepreneurs and investors continue to focus on developing new battery technology, its not unreasonable to surmise that, one day, battery technology will play a major role in the clean energy economy.
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Breakthrough Technology Could Lead to Battery-Powered Future ecomagination