Yet Another Soy Battery

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

The Blog recently reported on the brilliant work of twin high school students involved with the Brookhaven Institute in creating catalysts with a molybdenum-soy base (MoSoy) that could lead to inexpensive energy storage. Now we learn of efforts at Washington State University at Pullman in eastern Washington state to develop batteries with greater energy and prevent battery fires using the humble soy bean as a base material. Grant Norton, professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, is proud of his new lab, designed to build and test lithium battery materials in commercial sizes.   “The new laboratory allows us to scale up our research to work that is commercially relevant.’’ Norton works on tin-based electrodes, among other things, while a group of researchers led by Dr. Katie Zhong, a professor in the school, shares the lab’s equipment.  She and her graduate students are investigating solid lithium battery electrolytes such as a bio-based solid electrolyte made from environmentally friendly soy …