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Energy storage and batteries
Explore energy storage and battery research, covering innovative battery chemistries, materials design, device fabrication techniques, solutions to transition to clean energy, and applications including electric vehicles, grid-scale energy storage, and portable electronics.
Battery week is here!
Welcome to Battery week 2026 (11–15 May), a dedicated week of content exploring the fast-moving world of battery science and innovation. Find all the content here, and join us for a series of live interactive webinars:
Battery week webinars
Pushing the limits of capacity: the future of battery performance and design
Learn about the most promising up-and-coming technologies in battery design
Closing the loop: sustainable battery recycling from research to reality
Join us on 13 May to discover the latest advances in battery recycling for cleaner sustainable energy
In conversation with Clare Grey
Hear from the pioneering British chemist redefining how we think of battery science – live on 15 May
The scientists who will power our future
Calling in the next generation of scientists from all backgrounds to address the energy crisis and build the next generation of batteries.
The battery chemistry race shaping the future of electric vehicles
Science and global politics intertwine in the rivalry between lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxides and lithium iron phosphate
Studying materials in action
Experiments on battery electrodes and fuel cell catalysts while they’re being used – operando spectroscopy – can revolutionise our understanding of these crucial materials. Clare Sansom reports
Building better batteries
The next generation of battery technologies might pack significantly more power into the electric cars and mobile devices of the future. James Mitchell Crow reports
The lithium rush
Move over, gold; lithium is now the metal in global demand. Kit Chapman untangles the global politics around the sought-after resource
The long-term energy storage challenge
In a renewably powered future, how will the grid cope when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing? Rachel Brazil looks at the options
Not just batteries: The chemistry of electric cars
The materials required in battery-powered cars are providing new challenges to chemists and the chemical industry. Clare Sansom reports
The labs pointing to a greener future for Africa
Tackling climate is not just a job for scientists in more developed countries. Munyaradzi Makoni talks to researchers in Kenya and South Africa to find out more
The long road to sustainable lithium-ion batteries
Lithium-ion batteries could save the planet from petrol-driven cars, but do the batteries themselves live up to their sustainable reputation? Katharine Sanderson investigates efforts to make batteries better
The drive to recycle lithium-ion batteries
Electric vehicles are surging in popularity but Patrick Hughes asks what happens once their batteries are no longer fit for purpose
A battery technology worth its salt
With lithium-containing batteries facing constraints on many of the metals they contain, Nina Notman looks at whether its group 1 neighbour sodium can supply the answer
PodcastBattery week 2026: The EV cathode race & battery-recycling photocatalysts
Who will win the EV cathode race, manganese cobalt or iron phosphate? Plus, how a new photocatalyst could change the way we recycle batteries.
ArticleKarl Fischer titration for moisture analysis: applications in batteries, fuels and food
Accurate moisture analysis has consequences that extend well beyond the laboratory. Karl Fischer titration is what keeps them in check. The question is whether the reagent is up to the task.
ResearchCatalyst converts plastic waste into hydrogen and valuable chemical building blocks
Researchers reuse old car battery acid, simultaneously combining waste streams in move towards circular chemicals
NewsFrom whiskey waste to powerful energy storage devices
Researchers at ACS conference unveil how they repurposed a bourbon byproduct into green, high-performance supercapacitors
ResearchLithium-free battery breaks voltage barrier for ultra-cheap energy storage
New chemistry overcomes drawbacks that have hampered this promising class of battery
ResearchWas the ‘Baghdad battery’ really two cells?
A new study suggests it had an ‘outer’ cell that reacted with air to supply a higher voltage. But was it a battery at all?
NewsHow safe is the next generation of battery chemistries?
Rapid advances mean researchers are struggling to understand these batteries’ safety and fire hazards
NewsGlobal cooperation essential to cut carbon emissions in lithium-ion battery supply chain
Emissions could be cut a third by 2060
ResearchElectron transfer plays an underappreciated role in battery charging cycles
Ion transfer alone does not explain charging and discharging rates of lithium-ion batteries
ResearchHydrogen battery relieves the pressure for clean energy storage
Researchers develop an electrolyte that overcomes the low-capacity high-operating-temperature issues of previous hydrogen storage setups
OpinionBuilding better batteries with chemistry’s toolbox
How organic chemistry powers the development of sustainable batteries
BusinessCongo’s cobalt conundrum
DRC government is intervening to revive prices and stabilise supply chains
NewsEurope and US face diminishing lithium supply for electric vehicle batteries
China will still dominate the market for the vital battery metal in 2030
ResearchCement-like building material doubles up as an electrolyte in rechargeable battery
Study explores how to integrate electrochemical energy storage into the built environment
OpinionPeering into the future of material characterisation
Operando analysis offers real-time data on what happens to devices at the atomic level
NewsIs hydrogen the future for cars? Manufacturers haven’t given up on it yet
Zero-emissions cars are dominated by batteries but some carmakers think hydrogen still has a part to play
BusinessOpposition to lithium mines hampers green technology supply chain
Europe and US seek to escape Chinese dominance in critical minerals
BusinessNorthvolt bankruptcy dents European battery industry ambitions
Swedish startup aimed to challenge Asian producers, but stumbled in scaling production
ResearchThe race to commercialise nuclear-powered batteries
‘Radiovoltaic’ devices can deliver long-lasting power to pacemakers, planetary rovers and more
OpinionSodium-ion batteries could deliver India’s net zero ambitions
The promising energy storage alternative still faces a number of challenges
ResearchSunlight-powered device harvests lithium from salty water
Low-energy device is a ‘step forward’ for sustainable lithium mining
ResearchWater-splitting reaction reversal could extract lithium more sustainably and cheaply
Environmentally-friendly electrochemistry could cut extraction costs by 40%
ResearchSupramolecular crystals show promise for hydrogen storage
Porous catenated network is light weight and stores high volumes of hydrogen
ResearchThe world’s tiniest batteries could power robots the size of cells
Zinc–air microbattery packs the biggest punch yet for a power source with a volume of just two picolitres