Building A Better Battery
Rechargeable batteries are part of everyday life. But, that wasn’t always the case.
Back in 1986, when Steve Martin started at Iowa State, he was one of a few researchers around the world working to invent better materials based on glass for a vital part of a battery. Today’s battery industry is huge, especially in China, South Korea, and Japan. Battery research is everywhere – even in the United States, which hadn’t been a big supporter of battery research and development.
Martin, a University Professor and a Distinguished Professor in Materials Science and Engineering, is the inventor or co-inventor on eight patents – most of them related to glassy materials.
Among his new projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Martin and his student researchers will study the use of glassy solid electrolytes to increase the energy density of lithium-ion batteries, which could allow electric vehicles to receive a full charge in only five minutes and travel up to 500 miles between charges.
Martin has helped graduate students fill about 60 theses with such experiments and discovery. And he’s filled 46 of his own lab notebooks with ideas and progress.
Breakthroughs don’t happen overnight.
“It’s years and years of learning, patience, practice, and a lot of hard work to do this all right,” Martin says of his search for better battery materials.
The payoff? Batteries that are cheaper, more powerful, longer-lasting, safer, and quicker to recharge.