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Where innovation meets a sustainable future

A woman with brown hair sits at a computer Tina Taskovic

Posted:Ā April 2, 2024

By:Ā Emm Campbell

Tina Taskovic, a PhD student in the Jeff Dahn Research Group, may have discovered the secret to the 50-year battery.

One of the biggest challenges in adopting clean energy is finding cost-effective ways to make it available when the wind isn’t blowing, or the sun isn’t shining.

ā€œSolar and wind energy is cheap but storing it, so it is available when you need it, is expensive,ā€ says Taskovic. ā€œA long-lasting battery will make clean energy storage more affordable and make it possible for more people to adopt it. This could be a real gamechanger for the world to achieve net-zero carbon emissions.ā€

Taskovic performs what she calls ā€œautopsiesā€ on dead batteries where she examines their waste material or ā€œjunk.ā€ By adding new salt to one particular kind of battery junk, she has created a breakthrough electrolyte that outperforms the world’s prior best by a mile. The result is a battery that has been running for more that a year and half in an extremely high-temperature environment.

ā€œThis is an exciting development,ā€ says Taskovic, who was drawn to the Dahn Lab in 2018 by the opportunity to work with Dr. Dahn, a world-renowned innovator in advanced battery technology.

ā€œWe believe that if we can make a battery that can last 40 to 50 years reliably, this will help the world reach its energy goals. That sounds pretty great to me.ā€ Based on results so far, and the Dahn Lab’s collaboration with Tesla, Taskovic is optimistic that the 50-year battery is within reach. But she and the lab are looking to see what else is possible.

ā€œThe world has already changed thanks to the clean technology research being done here at pilipiliĀž»­,ā€ she says. ā€œWe believe we can build on that by making this battery even better and finding more ways to use it for the greater good.ā€

"The world has already changed thanks to the clean technology research being done here at pilipiliĀž»­." - Tina Taskovic, Chemistry PhD candidate