WVXU: 'Cheaper and safer' battery holds promise for green energy storage

WVXU highlighted chemistry research at the University of Cincinnati that could improve large-scale batteries needed by solar and wind farms.

UC College of Arts and Sciences Associate Professor Jimmy Jiang and his students developed a cheaper and more efficient battery that can generate more voltage than traditional batteries. They wrote about their project in the the journal Nature Communications.

Innovations such as UC’s will have profound effects on green energy, Jiang said. Batteries store renewable energy for when it’s needed, not just when it’s produced. This is crucial for getting the most out of wind and solar power, he said.

“You'll see hospitals and schools that will run on batteries. So we won't have to depend on fossil fuels,” UC postdoctoral researcher Rajeev Gautam said. He was lead author of the study.

Jiang and his team are still in the early stages of this new technology and expect it to be several years before it's implemented in the real world. However, the team has submitted a provisional patent application on the promising research they've conducted so far.

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