Advanced tools could help build safer, longer-lasting and faster-charging batteries

New microdevices developed at the University of Surrey give researchers their first-ever look inside a battery while it is running – opening the door to safer, smarter and more sustainable energy storage. 

These advanced tools allow scientists to observe chemical and structural changes in real-time as the battery operates, helping them better understand why batteries lose power, overheat or fail. For example, they can monitor the nanoscale surface morphology – the tiny structural features on a battery’s surface that change as it charges and discharges – analyse the interfacial composition, detect the atomic-level mass changes, and identify gas formation.  

The research team has also built a series of “mini lab-on-a-chip” systems that can rapidly test new battery materials and designs, improving the safety, lifetime and charging speed of batteries used in electric vehicles, public transport and large-scale renewable energy storage. 

Dr Kai Yang, Lecturer in Energy Materials and Nanotechnology at the University of Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute (ATI), who is leading the research, said: 

“Batteries power everything from smartphones to electric vehicles, but what happens at the tiny interfaces inside them, where chemical reactions take place, has long remained a mystery. These hidden zones are critical to how well a battery performs, how long it lasts and how safe it is. Our research focuses on unlocking and controlling these invisible interfaces.” 

Unlike traditional battery research, which has relied on trial and error or external performance testing, this novel approach marks a major step forward in understanding and controlling how energy-storage materials behave during operation. By turning the battery’s hidden interfaces into controllable systems, the work could accelerate the development of next-generation batteries for clean energy, consumer electronics and high-performance transport. 

Professor Ravi Silva, Director of Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute, said: 

“Until now, batteries of all sizes have been seen as black boxes; we can measure the output from the outside but cannot see what is happening inside. These breakthroughs allow us to not only peek inside but also fine-tune performance based on the application. It fits in well with the University of Surrey’s net zero ambitions and global clean energy transition, putting us at the forefront of innovation in decarbonising energy.” 

The Surrey team is now working closely with other academic groups and industrial partners, including Merrow Scientific, LinkZill and R3V Tech, to bring the research beyond the lab and into wider use in green chemical processing and environmental detection. 

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Notes to editors 

• Dr Kai Yang is available for interview; please contact mediarelations@surrey.ac.uk to arrange.