The Faraday Institution

Last updated
The Faraday Institution
Founded12 September 2017 (12 September 2017)
FounderRyan Bayliss
Peter Bruce
David Greenwood
Stephen Heidari-Robinson
Type Research institute
Registration no.England and Wales: 10959095
FocusElectrochemical Energy storage, Electric battery research
Location
Coordinates 51°34′46″N1°18′28″W / 51.579344°N 1.307642°W / 51.579344; -1.307642
CEO
Martin Freer
Website faraday.ac.uk//

The Faraday Institution is the United Kingdom's research institute aiming to advance battery science and technology. It was established in 2017 as part of the UK's wider Faraday Battery Challenge. [1] It states its mission as having four key areas: "electrochemical energy storage research, skills development, market analysis and early-stage commercialisation". [2] The Institution is headquartered at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus near Oxford. It is a limited company and is a registered charity with an independent board of trustees.

Contents

Name

Faraday delivering a Christmas Lecture at the Royal Institution in 1856. Faraday Michael Christmas lecture.jpg
Faraday delivering a Christmas Lecture at the Royal Institution in 1856.

The Faraday Institution is named after Michael Faraday, [3] an English scientist who contributed to the basic understanding of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. He popularised the now common battery terminology "anode", "cathode", "electrode" and "ion". Faraday lectured on education at the Royal Institution in 1854 [4] and appeared before a Public Schools Commission to give his views on education in Great Britain. Between 1827 and 1860 at the Royal Institution, Faraday presented nineteen Christmas lectures for young people. The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures series continues today, broadcast on the BBC.

Following this tradition, the Faraday Institution runs education and public engagement activities. In 2019, it launched a public discussion series on batteries with the Royal Institution [5] [6] and continued the programme from 2020 through 2024. [7] [8]

Research programmes

The Faraday Institution currently focuses on research in lithium-ion batteries, "beyond" lithium-ion battery technologies and energy storage for emerging economies. [9] Research is conducted in multidisciplinary teams with expertise that ranges across chemical engineering, chemistry, data and computer science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, law, materials science, maths and physics.

Lithium ion

Beyond Lithium ion

Batteries for Emerging Economies

With funding from the FCDO, in 2020 the Faraday Institution commenced research on battery technologies for use in developing countries and emerging economies. [18] [ non-primary source needed ]

Founding universities and participating universities

The Faraday Institution was founded by seven universities: [1]

The Faraday Institution's research projects are competitive and open to all academic battery researchers and research groups in the UK. [20]

In 2020, university participants included the following: [21]

Impacts on policy

The Faraday Institution publishes white papers and reports [22] to inform both government and industry on energy storage science, technology, economics, supply chains [23] and employment. Its report on UK battery demand [24] was used to evidence the requirement for UK based automotive battery gigafactories [25] and the need for the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) [26] [27] to support establishing them. [28] [29]

Battery Sustainability, Recycling and Reuse

The Faraday Institution participates in international efforts on sustainability and the recycling and reuse of lithium-ion batteries [30] [31] in emerging economies and developing countries. An effort with NREL as part of the World Bank Energy Storage Partnership [32] [33] led to the 2020 publication of "Global Overview of Energy Storage Performance Test Protocols" [34] that provides support and knowledge across the developing world on opportunities and technologies for energy storage in the electric sector. It contributed to the 2020 study "Reuse and Recycling: Environmental Sustainability of Lithium-Ion Battery Energy Storage Systems", [35] which offers an assessment of the role developing countries can play in this area.

It is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Battery Alliance, an international consortium focused on a circular economy and sustainable value chain for batteries and contributed to the 2019 report "A Vision for a Sustainable Battery Value Chain in 2030." [36]

Outreach and education

The Faraday Institution maintains outreach and education programmes [37] that extend across STEM, [38] undergraduate attraction, [39] doctoral training [40] and early career [41] professional development [42] to generate trained battery scientists and engineers.

To ensure the public has the best information on the opportunities and challenges of energy storage, and that future generations of scientists and engineers from all backgrounds are inspired to pursue promising STEM careers, the Faraday Institution has engaged delivery partners including the Royal Institution, SEO London, WISE Campaign, The Curiosity Box [43] and the Primary Science Teaching Trust (PSTT).

Notable scientists associated with the Faraday Institution

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithium-ion battery</span> Rechargeable battery type

A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. In comparison with other commercial rechargeable batteries, Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, higher energy density, higher energy efficiency, a longer cycle life, and a longer calendar life. Also noteworthy is a dramatic improvement in lithium-ion battery properties after their market introduction in 1991: over the following 30 years, their volumetric energy density increased threefold while their cost dropped tenfold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rechargeable battery</span> Type of electrical battery

A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell, is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or primary battery, which is supplied fully charged and discarded after use. It is composed of one or more electrochemical cells. The term "accumulator" is used as it accumulates and stores energy through a reversible electrochemical reaction. Rechargeable batteries are produced in many different shapes and sizes, ranging from button cells to megawatt systems connected to stabilize an electrical distribution network. Several different combinations of electrode materials and electrolytes are used, including lead–acid, zinc–air, nickel–cadmium (NiCd), nickel–metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), and lithium-ion polymer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric vehicle</span> Vehicle propelled by one or more electric motors

An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs include road and rail vehicles, electric boats and underwater vessels, electric aircraft and electric spacecraft.

Exide Industries Limited (Exide) is an Indian multinational storage battery manufacturing company, headquartered in Kolkata, India. It is the largest manufacturer of lead-acid storage batteries and power storage solutions provider in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. B. Straubel</span> American businessman

Jeffrey Brian Straubel is an American businessman and electrical engineer. He spent 15 years at Tesla, as chief technical officer until moving to an advisory role in July 2019. In 2023, he was elected to the company's board of directors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battery recycling</span> Process

Battery recycling is a recycling activity that aims to reduce the number of batteries being disposed as municipal solid waste. Batteries contain a number of heavy metals and toxic chemicals and disposing of them by the same process as regular household waste has raised concerns over soil contamination and water pollution. While reducing the amount of pollutants being released through disposal through the uses of landfill and incineration, battery recycling can facilitate the release of harmful materials from batteries to both the environment and the workers recycling batteries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric vehicle battery</span> Battery used to power the electric motors of a battery electric vehicle or hybrid electric vehicle

An electric vehicle battery is a rechargeable battery used to power the electric motors of a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or hybrid electric vehicle (HEV).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric battery</span> Power source with electrochemical cells

An electric battery is a source of electric power consisting of one or more electrochemical cells with external connections for powering electrical devices. When a battery is supplying power, its positive terminal is the cathode and its negative terminal is the anode. The terminal marked negative is the source of electrons. When a battery is connected to an external electric load, those negatively charged electrons flow through the circuit and reach to the positive terminal, thus cause a redox reaction by attracting positively charged ions, cations. Thus converts high-energy reactants to lower-energy products, and the free-energy difference is delivered to the external circuit as electrical energy. Historically the term "battery" specifically referred to a device composed of multiple cells; however, the usage has evolved to include devices composed of a single cell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Bruce</span> British chemist

Sir Peter George Bruce, is a British chemist, and Wolfson Professor of Materials in the Department of Materials at the University of Oxford. Between 2018 and 2023, he served as Physical Secretary and Vice President of the Royal Society. Bruce is a founder and Chief Scientist of the Faraday Institution.

A sugar battery is an emerging type of biobattery that is fueled by maltodextrin and facilitated by the enzymatic catalysts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saiful Islam (chemist)</span> British chemist (born 1963)

Saiful Islam is a British chemist and professor of materials modelling at the Department of Materials, University of Oxford. Saiful is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), and received the Royal Society's Wolfson Research Merit Award and Hughes Medal, and the American Chemical Society Award for Energy Chemistry for his major contributions to the fundamental atomistic understanding of new materials for lithium batteries and perovskite solar cells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Royce Institute</span> UK national institute for materials research

The Henry Royce Institute is the UK’s national institute for advanced materials research and innovation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Home energy storage</span> Local type of energy storage

Home energy storage devices store electricity locally, for later consumption. Usually, energy is stored in lithium-ion batteries, controlled by intelligent software to handle charging and discharging cycles. Companies are also developing smaller flow battery technology for home use. As a local energy storage technologies for home use, they are smaller relatives of battery-based grid energy storage and support the concept of distributed generation. When paired with on-site generation, they can virtually eliminate blackouts in an off-the-grid lifestyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health and environmental effects of battery electric cars</span>

Usage of electric cars damages people’s health and the environment less than similar sized internal combustion engine cars. While aspects of their production can induce similar, less or different environmental impacts, they produce little or no tailpipe emissions, and reduce dependence on petroleum, greenhouse gas emissions, and deaths from air pollution. Electric motors are significantly more efficient than internal combustion engines and thus, even accounting for typical power plant efficiencies and distribution losses, less energy is required to operate an electric vehicle. Manufacturing batteries for electric cars requires additional resources and energy, so they may have a larger environmental footprint in the production phase. Electric vehicles also generate different impacts in their operation and maintenance. Electric vehicles are typically heavier and could produce more tire and road dust air pollution, but their regenerative braking could reduce such particulate pollution from brakes. Electric vehicles are mechanically simpler, which reduces the use and disposal of engine oil.

Serena Corr is a chair in Functional Materials and Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield. She works on next-generation battery materials and advanced characterisation techniques for nanomaterials.

Linda Faye Nazar is a Senior Canada Research Chair in Solid State Materials and Distinguished Research Professor of Chemistry at the University of Waterloo. She develops materials for electrochemical energy storage and conversion. Nazar demonstrated that interwoven composites could be used to improve the energy density of lithium–sulphur batteries. She was awarded the 2019 Chemical Institute of Canada Medal.

Emma Kendrick is Professor of Energy Materials at the University of Birmingham where her work is focused on new materials for batteries and fuel cells. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

Khalil Amine is a materials scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, an Argonne distinguished fellow, and group leader of the Battery Technology group. His research team is focused on the development of advanced battery systems for transportation applications. In addition to his Argonne appointment, he is an adjunct professor at Stanford University, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, King Abdulaziz University, Hanyang University, and Peking University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental impacts of lithium-ion batteries</span>

Lithium batteries are batteries that use lithium as an anode. This type of battery is also referred to as a lithium-ion battery and is most commonly used for electric vehicles and electronics. The first type of lithium battery was created by the British chemist M. Stanley Whittingham in the early 1970s and used titanium and lithium as the electrodes. Applications for this battery were limited by the high prices of titanium and the unpleasant scent that the reaction produced. Today's lithium-ion battery, modeled after the Whittingham attempt by Akira Yoshino, was first developed in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alkali sulfur liquid battery</span> Liquid battery

Alkaline sulfur liquid battery (SLIQ) is a liquid battery which consists of only one rechargeable liquid and a technology which can be used for grid storage.

References

  1. 1 2 "Business Secretary announces founding partners of £65 million battery technology research institution" (Press release). Department of Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP. 2 October 2017. Archived from the original on 3 October 2017.
  2. "Our Mission". The Faraday Institution.
  3. "Building on the Legacy of Faraday". The National Archives. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  4. Royal Institution of Great Britain; Whewell, William; Faraday, Michael; Latham, Robert Gordon; Daubeny, Charles; Tyndall, John; Paget, James; Hodgson, William Ballantyne; Lankester, E. Ray (Edwin Ray) (1917). Science and education; lectures delivered at the Royal institution of Great Britain. The Library of Congress. London, W. Heinemann. pp. 39–74 [51].
  5. "The Batteries are Coming". YouTube. The Royal Institution.
  6. "How Batteries Will Change Our World". Royal Institution. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  7. "The Hunt for New Batteries". YouTube. The Royal Institution.
  8. "The Hunt for New Batteries". Royal Institution. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  9. "Research Programme". Faraday Institution.
  10. "Multi-Scale Modelling". Imperial College London.
  11. "ReLiB". The University of Birmingham.
  12. "Nextrode". The University of Oxford.
  13. "FutureCat". The University of Sheffield.
  14. "CATMAT". The University of Bath.
  15. "SafeBatt". University College London.
  16. "SOLBAT". The University of Oxford.
  17. "LiSTAR". University College London.
  18. "Two research projects begin aiming to reduce the cost and improve the performance of battery technologies for use in developing countries and emerging economies – The Faraday Institution". 3 November 2020.
  19. "Batteries for Emerging Economies Details". The Faraday Institution.
  20. "EPSRC". EPSRC Calls for Proposals Faraday Phase 2. EPSRC. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  21. "Faraday Institution Annual Report 2019 / 2020" (PDF). The Faraday Institution. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  22. "Publications". The Faraday Institution.
  23. Evans, Dennis (10 September 2020). The Road to Zero Emissions: The Future of Trucks, Transport and Automotive Industry Supply Chains. Kogan Page. ISBN   978-1789665628.
  24. "UK electric vehicle and battery production potential to 2040" (PDF). The Faraday Institution.
  25. "Electric vehicles: driving the transition: Government Response to the Committee's Fourteenth Report of Session 2017–19". Parliament UK.
  26. "Batteries: Manufacturing Industries – Question for Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy". UK Parliament. 21 July 2020.
  27. "Automotive Transformation Fund". Advanced Propulsion Centre. 8 September 2021.
  28. "Not investing in electric car battery production could cost UK 105,000 jobs – study". The Guardian. 15 Mar 2020.
  29. "Has Britain hit the accelerator too late in race to meet gigafactory demand?". The Telegraph. 5 Dec 2020.
  30. Islam and Hossain (22 August 2020). Islam, Mazharul M; Hossain, M. Moazzem (eds.). Science and Technology Innovation for a Sustainable Economy. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-47166-8. ISBN   9783030471651. S2CID   241581277.
  31. Edulijee and Harrison (13 March 2020). Electronic waste management. Vol. 98. London: Royal Society of Chemistry. p. 62. doi:10.1080/00202967.2020.1723255. ISBN   978-1-78801-744-2. S2CID   216272682.{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  32. "New International Partnership Established to Increase the Use of Energy Storage in Developing Countries". 28 May 2019.
  33. "Energy Storage Partnership Fact Sheet". ESMAP.
  34. "Global Overview of Energy Storage Performance Test Protocols" (PDF). An Energy Storage Partnership Report, NREL.
  35. "Reuse and Recycling: Environmental Sustainability of Lithium-Ion Battery Energy Storage Systems (English)". Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) World Bank Group. 10 September 2020.
  36. "A Vision for a Sustainable Battery Value Chain in 2030: Unlocking the Full Potential to Power Sustainable Development and Climate Change Mitigation" (PDF). World Economic Forum Global Battery Alliance. September 2019.
  37. "Education and Skills". The Faraday Institution.
  38. "STEM outreach". The Faraday Institution.
  39. "Undergraduates". The Faraday Institution.
  40. "PhD researchers". The Faraday Institution.
  41. "Early Career Researchers". The Faraday Institution.
  42. "Continuing Professional Development". The Faraday Institution.
  43. "Stem Day in a Box". The Curiosity Box.