Prof. Zhongwei Chen has received $3 million in funding to further his work into greener, cheaper, more energy-efficient silicon-based batteries.
Prof. Chen is the Canada Research Chair in Advanced Materials for Clean Energy and a faculty member in the Department of Chemical Engineering. He received the funding from Vancouver-based Newtech Power Inc. to co-develop a next-generation lithium-ion rechargeable battery that could be on the market within three or four years.
This battery technology is potentially more environmentally-friendly and less expensive due to the use of relatively inexpensive silicon. It also has the potential to offer increased energy density of 40 to 60 per cent, which would allow an electric car to travel up to 500 kilometres on a single charge.