Through two U.S. Department of Energy funding calls awarded in 2020, PNNL is partnering with industry and academia to advance battery materials and processes.

PNNL has published a report that sets the foundation for modeling gaps and technical challenges in optimizing hydropower operations for both energy production and water management.

Scientists have created a single-crystal, nickel-rich cathode that is hardier and more efficient than before—important progress on the road to better lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.

PNNL has earned “Best Paper” at an international resilience conference for research on hydropower’s capabilities and constraints in the event of extreme events, like hurricanes and rolling blackouts.

A PNNL research team compared two types of pumped storage hydropower (open and closed loop) to identify potential environmental impacts.

Researchers at PNNL have developed a software tool that helps universities, small business, and corporate developers to design better batteries with new materials that hold more energy.

PNNL and WSU researchers have improved the performance and life cycle of sodium-ion battery technology to narrow the gap with some lithium-ion batteries.

Researchers at PNNL have come up with a novel way to use silicon as an energy storage ingredient, replacing the graphite in electrodes. Silicon can hold 10 times the electrical charge per gram, but it comes with problems of its own.

Scientists have witnessed the formation of the solid-electrolyte interphase, a critical component in lithium-ion batteries.

Pumped-storage hydropower offers the most cost-effective storage option for shifting large volumes of energy. A PNNL-led team wrote a report comparing cost and performance factors for 10 storage technologies.

Scientists have uncovered a root cause of the growth of needle-like structures—known as dendrites and whiskers—that plague lithium batteries, sometimes causing a short circuit, failure, or even a fire.

PNNL researchers have created a chemical cocktail that could help electric cars power their way through extreme temperatures where current lithium-ion batteries don’t operate as efficiently as needed.

PNNL researchers demonstrate how the excitation of oxygen atoms that contributes to better performance of a lithium-ion battery also triggers a process that leads to damage, explaining a phenomenon that has been a mystery to scientists.

Researchers at PNNL used key metrics to develop visualizations that show how the combined effects of climate change on hydropower and load influence the frequency, duration, and severity of power shortfalls.