University of Glasgow contributes to ’game-changing’ new study on electric batteries

A researcher from the James Watt School of Engineering is a co-author of a new study which could significantly improve future generations of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Dr Guanchen Li contributed to the research, which is led by the University of Oxford and published in Nature . Using advanced imaging techniques, the researchers revealed mechanisms which cause lithium metal solid-state batteries (Li-SSBs) to fail. If these can be overcome, solid-state batteries using lithium metal anodes could deliver a step-change improvement in EV battery range, safety and performance, and help advance electrically powered aviation. Dr Li, a co-lead author of the paper, helped to develop the computer modelling which underpins the study. He said: "Solid-state batteries have the potential to deliver transformative improvements over the current generation of lithium-ion batteries - a solid-state battery of the same size could potentially store twice as much energy, helping electric cars or electric planes to travel further. Until now, however, they have suffered from some fundamental chemo-mechanical issues which prevent them from working at commercial scale.