Energy Storage and Grid Modernization

Developing new types of energy storage provides a path to electrification of transportation and grid resilience. Brookhaven Lab is advancing this vision by developing new materials, new electrochemical storage systems, understanding the mechanisms of function and degradation, and by studying their integration into real-world, grid-scale energy distribution systems.

Brookhaven chemists Enyuan Hu and Zulipiya Shadike with a molecular model of a solvent for lithium metal battery electrolytes.

The science behind better batteries—from vehicle technology to grid scale

Scientists at Brookhaven are working on multiple projects to improve the storage capacity of batteries, reduce the time needed to recharge them, and using more sustainable materials and processing methods. In addition to making our cell phones and laptops more reliable, better batteries will keep electric vehicles on the road longer and allow for rapid recharges. They’ll also provide the storage capacity needed to provide a resilient grid and integrate renewable energy sources. Battery studies at Brookhaven span basic fundamental -science to application specific use cases, tracking the electrochemical processes that occur in anode and cathode materials under real-world operating conditions using tools in our Interdisciplinary Science Building, National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) and Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN).

Capabilities

• Understanding the chemical processes in new battery materials by in operando experiments at the NSLS-II
• Expertise in the CFN Theory and Computation Group in applying theory, computational modeling, and data analytics to gain a fundamental understanding of the structure-function relationship in energy storage materials.
• State-of-the-art microscopes equipped with spectroscopic capabilities in the CFN Electron Microscopy Facility to determine how the structure and chemistry of battery materials evolve after multiple charge/discharge cycles
• Developing enabling technologies for large-scale battery solutions for grid applications