Institute for Electrochemically Stored Energy to receive $2 million plus DOE grant
STONY BROOK, NY, August 24, 2021 – Stony Brook University’s Institute for Electrochemically Stored Energy, through the
Research Foundation of SUNY, has received a major grant from the U.S Department of
Energy (DOE) to further develop battery technology that could potentially be used
in the creation of more efficient electric vehicles (EVs). The research, led by Esther Takeuchi, PhD, is funded through the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy,
Vehicles Technology Office, and is part of a national research initiative to accelerate advancements in zero-emissions vehicles. The grant totals $2,285,813,
effective October 1, 2021, and runs through December 2024.
“Our research is focused on new electrolytes to enable batteries to operate over wide
temperatures, charge fast, and cycle effectively,” explains Takeuchi, SUNY Distinguished
Professor, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, the William and
Jane Knapp Chair in Energy and the Environment and Principal Investigator. She also
has a joint appointment with the DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, of which Stony
Brook is part of the management team.
Esther Takeuchi with David Brock, a former SBU graduate student, now an associate
scientist at Brookhaven and the Lab’s PI for the project. This “dry lab” in Brookhaven’s
Interdisciplinary Science Building has tightly controlled climate conditions and the
instrumentation for prototyping and testing coin- and pouch-cell batteries. Credit:
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Scientists from Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Brown
University will collaborate on the research with the goal to establish the new class
of electrolytes for building storage capacity in EVs.
“Brookhaven National Laboratory is making significant contributions to initiatives
related to clean energy. This new program will address some of the scientific challenges
related to batteries for electric vehicles,” says Jim Misewich, Brookhaven Lab’s Associate
Laboratory Director for the Energy and Photon Sciences Directorate. “This is also an outstanding example of collaboration where Brookhaven National
Lab scientists will be interacting closely with faculty and young investigators from
Stony Brook University and Brown University. We are delighted to participate in this
opportunity.”
The research team will develop electrolytes under extreme conditions. By using unique
tools available at each respective institution, the scientific team will characterize
ion mobility and stability properties of the electrolytes, and test batteries under
baseline and extreme conditions to evaluate electrochemical function. The work will
combine modeling, simulation and experimentation – all in an effort to meet the needs
of present and anticipated Li-ion battery applications.
Stony Brook joins 23 other research organizations nationwide to advance the R&D necessary
to help decarbonize the transportation sector. The total DOE funding for this initiative
is $60 million.
