Organization Name: Arizona State University (ASU)
Project Title: Sustainable, High-Energy Density, Low-Cost Electrochemical Energy Storage – Metal-Air Ionic Liquid (MAIL) Batteries

ASU is developing a new class of metal-air batteries. Metal-air batteries are promising for future generations of EVs because they use oxygen from the air as one of the battery’s main reactants, reducing the weight of the battery and freeing up more space to devote to energy storage than Li-Ion batteries. ASU technology uses Zinc as the active metal in the battery because it is more abundant and affordable than imported lithium. Metal-air batteries have long been considered impractical for EV applications because the water-based electrolytes inside would decompose the battery interior after just a few uses. Overcoming this traditional limitation, ASU’s new battery system could be both cheaper and safer than today’s Li-Ion batteries, store from 4-5 times more energy, and be recharged over 2,500 times.

Project Factsheet (PDF 339KB)

Energy Storage - Projects

• Arizona State University: Metal-Air Electric Vehicle Battery
• EaglePicher Technologies: Sodium-Beta Batteries for Grid-Scale Storage
• Envia Systems: Long-Range Electric Vehicle Batteries 
• FastCAP Systems: High Energy Density Ultracapacitors 
• Inorganic Specialists: Silicon Coated Nanofiber Paper as a Lithium-Ion Anode
• MIT: Electroville: Grid-Scale Batteries
• UCLA/JPL: Cost-Effective Solar Thermal Energy Storage