Enhancing Battery Performance with Quantum Sensors

(UofBirmingham.uk) A new project aimed at harnessing quantum technology to enhance vehicle battery performance has been awarded Partnership Resource Funding by the University of Birmingham-led UK Quantum Technology Hub Sensors and Timing.
Improving vehicle battery technology is key in delivering the Government’s 10-point plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, which confirms the UK will end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. In order to meet these and other national and international decarbonisation targets, substantial research and development in these areas is urgently needed.
The project, which also includes the Universities of Strathclyde and Edinburgh as part of the consortium, aims to do exactly this by translating existing highly sensitive world-leading quantum magnetometer technology to an industrial-grade imaging device, to accurately examine the battery’s microscopic current flows. This technology will facilitate rapid assessments of new and existing battery chemistries to accelerate the creation of superior battery technology.
Professor Peter Kruger, Research Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Sussex, said: “We hope, through this project, to initiate an increase in the creation of new battery technologies through a better understanding of battery performance.”
“By facilitating improvements in battery energy density, manufacturing costs, battery lifetime and safety we hope to reduce carbon emissions and waste production globally.”