Introduction and Overview

High-performance batteries are projected to be one of the energy-storage leapfrog technologies for the electrification of automotive drivetrains and to provide stationary storage solutions that enable the effective use of renewable energy sources. This technology is already used in low-power applications such as consumer electronics and power tools. Extensive research and development has enhanced the technology to a stage where it seems very likely that safe and reliable lithium ion batteries will soon be onboard hybrid-electric and electric vehicles and connected to solar cells and windmills. However, safety of the technology is still a concern, service life is not yet sufficient, and costs are too high.

ORNL’s energy storage materials program builds on its historic strengths, expertise, and facilities in the areas of materials science, characterization, processing, and computations sciences in an effort to overcome some of the most pressing barriers. ORNL seeks to better understand performance and lifetime limitations and develop revolutionary technologies and low-cost processing to provide next-generation energy storage solutions for large-scale transportation and stationary storage.

ORNL is developing next-generation in-situ characterization tools in order to gain new insight in materials behavior and a never achieved understanding of materials limitations and degradation mechanisms. ORNL’s capabilities in characterization and computational science will enable us to understand those new results and guide our ideas towards new revolutionary systems.

In parallel, ORNL is studying new transformational concepts. We hope to develop revolutionary storage devices that will help the nation and the world solve our energy needs.