High-performance Na-S Batteries for Large-scale Grid Energy Storage and Electric Vehicles
Partners: General Motors LLC (GM)
Global warming has raised awareness of the harmful effects of greenhouse gases and has set a worldwide movement to save our environment and maintain sustainable economic development. Canada is committed to reducing its carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving net-zero by 2050. The development of high-performance and low-cost energy storage devices is very urgent to integrate clean energy more effectively into the grid. Batteries represent the most scalable energy-storage technology. In this project, we are aiming to develop the room temperature Na-S battery as one of the most promising candidates with a few unique features: 1) the Na-S battery demonstrates a high theoretical energy density (760 Wh kg−1), which is more than two times higher than the LIBs. 2) Both Na and S are abundant elements on the earth's crust, resulting in the low cost. The energy cost for a Na-S battery is about 1.4 USD KW/h, which is much lower than that of the LIBs (83.2 USD KW/h). Together with our partner General Motors LLC (GM), our objective is to develop high-performance and low-cost room temperature Na-S batteries potentially for grid energy storage and EVs.
Researcher Biography
Dr. Yang Zhao is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. Dr. Zhao’s research focuses on the development of advanced materials, interface engineering approaches and advanced characterization methods for energy storage and conversion devices. Dr. Zhao has already published over 140 journal articles in peer-reviewed journals, including Chemical Reviews, Chemical Society Reviews, Joule, Matter, Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, JACS, Angew, Energy & Environmental Science, et al. His works have received citations over 12,000 times and his personal H-index is 60. He has been listed as the World’s Top 2% Scientists in 2019-2022 (Stanford University Releases List). He is also the recipient of over 15 awards/scholarships/fellowships, including the Petro-Canada Young Innovator Awards, Materials Today Energy Early Career Researcher, et al. He serves as the symposium co-organizer/co-chair for the 2022 ACS Spring Meeting, 2023 ACS Fall Meeting and 2024 MRS Spring Meeting. He has also served as an Associate Editor of ALDiJ (Atomic Layer Deposition International Journal) and Frontiers in Materials (Energy Materials), Editor Broad Member of Materials Today Energy and Renewables.
