Three Forward-Looking Research Fields Dominate Battery Research

Smartphones and laptops constantly in use, smart building technology, the expansion of renewable energies, networked charging stations for electric cars or the debate surrounding air taxis: sustainable, safe and efficient batteries are the basis of our lives as well as paving the way for the future. In honour of the useful daily helper, the USA created the National Battery Day, which takes place annually on February 18- the birthday of the Italian physicist and inventor of the battery: Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Count of Volta. What are the future developments in the field of electrochemical energy storage? A comment by Martin Winter, scientific leader of MEET Battery Research Center of the University of Münster and Helmholtz Institute Münster of Forschungszentrum Jülich. Lithium-ion batteries currently dominate the market. They combine high performance and energy density with a long life cycle, safety and lowest costs. These are the factors that - as a whole - determine the marketability of a battery. With sustainability, another parameter has been added in recent years.