“The concept here is that you start with an aluminium foil, and the way to think about this is when we charge and discharge the battery, the lithium ions are actually moving into the aluminium foil and then moving out of the aluminium foil, and you want that to be as reversible as possible”, Prof. Matthew McDowell, Georgia Institute of Technology

A research team led by Prof. Matthew McDowell at Georgia Institute of Technology has recently introduced an aluminium foil that could revolutionize solid-state lithium battery cells, potentially extending the range of electric vehicles and advancing battery technology. Collaborating with aluminium producer Novelis, the researchers are scaling up battery sizes to understand how the foil behaves and exploring cost-effective materials for integration.

Matthew McDowell is an Associate Professor and Woodruff Faculty Fellow at Georgia Tech with appointments in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Materials Science and Engineering. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 2013 and was a postdoc at Caltech from 2013 until 2015. McDowell’s research focuses on developing and characterizing battery materials and systems, including solid-state batteries, Li-ion batteries at low temperatures, and novel anode materials. McDowell has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), Sloan Fellowship, NSF CAREER Award, and Georgia Tech’s Outstanding Achievement in Early Career Research award.

In an interview with AL Circle, Prof. Matthew McDowell delves deeper into the research's implications, the challenges, and the exciting trajectory that lies ahead.