Dalhousie’s Jeff Dahn, a world leader in lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery research, wants to develop better batteries to power our phones and cars, supply grid energy and help us build a sustainable future. With help from NSRIT he’s developing new materials for the next generation of Li-ion batteries, like those used in electric and hybrid automobiles, batteries that will store twice the energy of traditional batteries and last much longer.

His lab focuses on energy production, energy storage and sustainability. While the components to do this might be made up of names straight out of Star Wars – like the small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) system – they will have very real implications for energy generation and usage in Nova Scotia and the world. This research on organic solar cells spans many aspects from higher efficiency and longer lifetimes, to sustainable materials in the areas of recyclable paper, polymer reinforced concrete, organic battery electrode materials and corrosion-resistant steels.

As Nova Scotia’s primary energy production is almost entirely based on fossil fuels, this work will help shift to more renewable energy production. Additionally over 260 people will be trained in Nova Scotia in the field of energy storage and production.

Jeff Dahn is the NSERC/3M Canada Ltd. Industrial Research Chair in Materials and Advanced Batteries and Materials Science.