LAB REPORT: Energy Storage Research Group

Materials Science Powers Next Generation Battery Innovation

Glenn Amatucci, a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, is the director of the Energy Storage Research Group (ESRG), a lab dedicated to the research, development, and advancement of new energy storage device chemistries. 

While Amatucci directed a similar group at Bellcore (Bell Communications Research), since 2003 he and an interdisciplinary team of Rutgers faculty, research staff, and students have been working to develop and understand next-generation energy storage materials and devices. 

ESRG's pioneering research solutions include fabricating nanomaterials to final battery prototypes of unique designs, many with no similar battery counterparts in the world. 

"We use advanced techniques to understand the science behind what enables materials to work well—or, conversely, fail—at near atomic levels," Amatucci reports. 

Innovating Energy Storage Solutions

Amatucci describes his team's research as being fueled by "a constant search for more energy per weight and volume; lifetime, safety, lower social and economic costs; and the ability to resolve specific needs. Failure is as important as success in such research as we try to stay at the edge of what is possible and known."

Current ESRG research projects are exploring electrode materials. According to Amatucci, these new materials, such as alloys and nano-enabled composites for lithium and sodium batteries, have a storage capacity that is two to three times greater than the best commercial materials and eliminate supply chain worries by using safe, widely available materials. However, as with most battery innovations which have a complex interplay between ion and electron transport, the pathway to a final product and the key levels of product development takes time. 

Designing the Future of Batteries

Other ESRG research concentrates on batteries, with Amatucci noting a broad spectrum of projects with the potential to shape a new generation of batteries, by exploring: 

• Solid state positive electrodes for lithium-ion batteries with extremely high energy densities
• Very high volumetric capacity negative electrode architecture for lithium and sodium batteries
• New methodologies for manufacturing custom batteries
• Surface engineering of materials interfaces in batteries
• Novel electrolytes that improve stability and temperature range of battery operation

Powering Biomedical Engineering Breakthroughs

Developing novel power technologies for biomedical engineering—which has a very high bar for safety—is an additional focus for Amatucci.

"We have developed high power materials for implantable defibrillators, as well as extremely small needle-like batteries that could be used subcutaneously," he says. "We've also developed specialty materials that are uniquely positioned to impact the biomedical field upon proven maturity in other applications."

ESRG has also successfully demonstrated a battery that can be directly charged by using the temperature difference between someone's skin and the ambient environment. 

Undergraduate and graduate students play significant roles in the group and materials discovery, with undergraduates learning laboratory skills as research assistants before moving to Slade or Capstone projects. Graduate students, Amatucci reports, "take the deep dive of developing new materials and truly understanding how they operate mechanistically down to the atomic scale. The journey of discovery is a team effort enabled by amazing staff, students, and the wider support of our sponsors and Rutgers supporting departments."