Grant: Idea to Innovation

To slow and eliminate the catastrophic consequences of climate change, reducing our emissions of greenhouse gases is vital. Since 1999, the transportation sector in Canada has been emitting in excess of 700 megatonnes of carbon dioxide every year. This represents 27% of all emissions in the country. Zero-emission, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) provide a solution to this problem. However, the long recharging times of batteries (about one hour and a half) is one of the biggest obstacles in the way of mass adoption of BEVs by the public. Researchers at the University of Waterloo have recently disclosed a novel, chemical joining strategy that drastically improves fast-charging capabilities of both traditional and next-generation batteries. Here, we propose to develop this new electrode fabrication technique to enable otherwise traditional lithium-ion batteries to charge in minutes instead of hours. This discovery relies on making Li-ion battery electrode more conductive by physically joining all parts of the electrodes together from the active material used to store the energy to the metal foils that are used to connect the battery to the outside circuit to be powered. This electrode-making technique is designed to be integrated seamlessly into existing battery production lines that are present in industry today. The transition to BEVs concerns not only Canada but the rest of the world in the multi-trillion-dollar transportation industry. Countries such as the United States, China and all countries of the European union having pledged to phase out their fleet of fossil fuel burning vehicles in the coming decade. Therefore, developing fast-charging battery technologies in Canada gives us a chance to advance the country's prominence and competitiveness on the world-stage as a pole of technological innovation and will help in finding solutions to reduce Canada's dependency on oil.