Out of 208 projects from 23 countries and regions, Dr. Denis Yu’s innovation on a new kind of battery, a dual-ion battery (DIB), has earned him a top 20 spot in the Tera-Award Smart Energy Innovation Competition, a smart energy innovation competition jointly organised by The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (Towngas) and State Power Investment Corporation Limited (SPIC) under the theme of “exploring zero-carbon innovations for the future”. More details regarding the competition can be found at https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/T3D0hBuGig5QVPmjA2h89A.

Dual-ion battery differs from the traditional lithium-ion battery in that it utilizes both cations and anions for energy storage. Because the ions can move back and forth easily between the electrode and electrolyte, DIB can provide high power and can be charged and discharged within a few minutes.

Dr. Yu’s team has developed technologies to enable the battery to give more than 80% of its capacity in 2 mins and also cycle stably for more than 4000 times. The new DIB is expected to bridge the gap in existing energy storage systems, providing higher power than lithium-ion batteries and higher energy density than supercapacitors. DIB would be suitable for future applications on green transportation and power systems with renewables. Dr. Yu’s works were also featured recently in top journals such as Advanced Functional Materials (DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202102360) and Advanced Energy Materials (DOI:10.1002/aenm.202103360). 

More information about Dr. Yu’s work on dual-ion battery can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdESP_lUbIo&t=104s.