ERC Starting Grant to Alexandre Ponrouch

Dr Alexandre Ponrouch's research project "Calcium and magnesium metal anode based batteries (CAMBAT)" has been granted under the ERC Starting Grant, panel PE8. CAMBAT addresses important challenges in the quest for a sustainable future, since batteries are essential components in a wide range of “everyday” technologies. It aims at developing new sustainable battery chemistries based Ca or Mg metal anodes which would bring a breakthrough in terms of energy density, while relying on much more abundant elements as compared to today’s state of the art Li-ion technology. A milestone of this project is the formulation of new non-corrosive electrolytes with enhanced ionic transport that would promote the formation of a stable electrolyte/electrode interface.  This should enable building laboratory prototype cells with enhanced energy density and lower cost than commercially available Li-ion batteries.

The European Research Council (ERC) has a number of funding schemes amongst which the Starting Grant is a very prestigious one that aims at encouraging young talented research leaders to gain independence in Europe and to build their own careers.