Energy Storage

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>>> US-funded breakthrough battery tech just simply handed over to China


The Register

by Brandon Vigliarolo

Aug 2022


https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/us-funded-breakthrough-battery-tech-just-simply-handed-over-to-china/ar-AA10jT8h?li=BBnb7Kz


US-funded breakthrough battery tech just simply handed over to China

Licencing snafu sends American invention overseas


When US national laboratories develop a new technology, Uncle Sam is supposed to ensure it is commercialized in America. But that's not what happened with what's said to be a breakthrough battery design. …

A vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) design created at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has wound up in the hands of a Chinese company, which has since gone on to become the largest manufacturer of VRFBs in the world. The US, which owns the patent and invested $15 million of taxpayer dollars into its development, reportedly has no domestic production site for the novel VRFBs.

That's not to say that VRFBs aren't manufactured in the US – some companies do make them – but the PNNL battery design is different.

Over the course of six years, PNNL scientists developed a special mix of acid and electrolytes that they claim is twice as powerful as other vanadium-based batteries, doesn't degrade like other batteries, and can be infinitely discharged and recharged for as long as 30 years. The refrigerator-sized batteries could be installed in homes hooked up to solar panels and reduce demand on the power grid.

Research on PNNL's VRFB began in 2006, and in 2012 the project's lead scientist, Gary Yang, applied for a license to manufacture and sell the design. The license was granted, leading to the formation of UniEnergy Technologies, which branded the battery ReFlex.

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