About This Project

Fire powers civilization by oxidizing carbon fuels. Cells oxidize energy in the Krebs cycle using natural redox protein complexes shuttling electrons. We aim to computationally model and synthesize novel protein-cofactor pairs to mimic this for clean electricity storage. Our approach involves novel structural design, redox potential prediction, protein synthesis, and electrochemical testing in a flow battery. Success enables scalable, distributed storage for renewable grid integration.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

To enable grid operators to efficiently dispatch on-demand electricity from intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar, we require high-round-trip-efficiency, energy-dense battery electric storage systems(BESS). However, mining the minerals for current battery chemistries is environmentally destructive, has a significant carbon and energy footprint, and poses challenges for remanufacturing and disposal.

Organic Redox Flow Batteries(O-RFBs) are a potential sustainable storage solution that currently lack density and lifespan compared to conventional chemistries.

O-RRBs have potential to be high-efficiency, dense and economically viable. There is great promise for carbon-based batteries to enable grid storage of renewables made of sustainable materials we can grow.

What is the significance of this project?

We're pioneering the discovery of redox-active protein pairs for organic flow batteries to enable technoeconomically viable grid-scale energy storage.

We envision leveraging photosynthesis to biogenically capture carbon in close form to sustainable, high energy density battery materials that could enable humanity a scalable path to wean off of fossil fuels.

While projects like Form Energy's iron oxide battery are underway, all batteries degrade. Low-density rust batteries cannot sustainably scale to the tens of gigatons of oil equivalent energy demanded annually.

To replace fossil fuels, we need a repeatable path to discover, synthesize, and scale-up high energy density, carbonaceous secondary batteries for energy-intensive grid-scale demand such as building heating and manufacturing.

What are the goals of the project?

Our goal is to create a rapid pipeline for designing, characterizing, synthesizing, and testing redox protein pairs for sustainable energy storage.

Using first principles, we can tune protein-protein interaction properties like operating voltage, energy density, longevity, and manufacturability. Success would enable protein battery engineering where storage is designed from chemistry to socioeconomics.

Imagine batteries with active materials grown, not mined. Degradation and serviceability would be balanced by selecting proteins based on renewable-availability across energy storage timescales. Spent proteins would be upcycled while new ones are grown, creating a sustainable carbon-neutral energy ecosystem.