Battery Interview

Ceren Zor is a Senior Battery Scientist working for About:Energy, a battery modelling and simulation start-up. She describes herself as an electrochemist, battery materials scientist, and engineer. She has over eight years of experience in the battery sector, having completed a doctorate at the University of Oxford working on next generation batteries, followed by a stint at a start-up focusing on lithium metal anode manufacturing.

In her day to day work Ceren analyses battery materials and cycling data, examines cycling trends, and investigates the chemical and electrochemical behaviour of commercial cells, mainly targeted towards parameterisation for electrochemical modelling.

I caught up with Ceren to get her insight on the battery field.

What would you say are the biggest areas of growth in the battery sector right now?

Lithium-ion batteries continue to perform remarkably well, and the current generation of chemistries still has considerable room for optimisation, both in materials and in manufacturing.

Cells with high-nickel cathodes and high-silicon anodes are delivering outstanding performance, both gravimetrically and in terms of power capability, yet each incremental improvement pushes the boundaries of what were once considered limitations of lithium-ion technology. That sustained progress is exciting.

On the more affordable and relatively sustainable end of the spectrum, lithium iron phosphate (LFP) is also advancing rapidly. The energy density and power capabilities now being achieved in LFP cells are impressive. Notably, LFP adoption in passenger vehicles has accelerated considerably. The latest generation of LFP cells now exceeds the energy density of nickel-based cells from just five years ago.

Meanwhile, next-generation chemistries such as solid-state batteries, lithium metal anodes, sodium-ion, and lithium-sulphur are progressing, but they need more development time before they can either reach production readiness or compete with lithium-ion on cost. Beyond lithium-ion batteries entirely, iron-air and iron-flow batteries are emerging as a compelling technology for long-duration grid storage and data centre power.

I strongly believe that batteries need to be diversified for each application, which will result in more responsible stewardship of resources.

From a patent perspective, batteries are a key area of focus with electrical machinery, apparatus and energy being the third largest technical field for filings at the EPO. Filings in the battery space in Europe have surged by 340%, demonstrating the strong levels of innovation across this sector.

Who are the key companies and academics to watch in the sector?

Rather than singling out individual names, I think the more useful observation is about where the centres of gravity lie. In academia, there are excellent groups across the US, Europe, and East Asia working on everything from advanced characterisation and degradation science to solid-state electrolytes and next-generation cathode materials.

The UK specifically has a strong battery research ecosystem. The Faraday Institution brings together academics and industry partners to tackle battery materials and electrochemistry challenges in a structured, collaborative way, while Innovate UK actively supports SMEs developing and commercialising battery technologies. That model of coordinated, state-backed research and innovation is distinctive and valuable.

On the other hand, it is well documented that the UK and the EU lag behind in battery cell manufacturing, and we have seen some dispiriting stories of gigafactory projects failing in both regions. I genuinely hope that the UK and Europe succeed in building out their manufacturing capacity, because the knowledge base and the deep-tech capability are there; what has been missing is the scale.

European patent filings in this area are dominated by applicants from South Korea, China and Japan (particularly big companies like LG and Samsung). There are also a reasonable number of filings by European applicants – driven by Germany – and a more limited number of filings originating from the US.

What is the relative importance of hardware versus software in the battery sector?

Both hardware and software developments are critically important, and in practice they are deeply intertwined.

In manufacturing, hardware innovation means developing tools with a smaller footprint that are easier to control, more versatile, more energy-efficient, and capable of handling different chemistries and formats. But equally, computational methods, from classical statistical process control through to machine learning, are becoming essential across the manufacturing chain, e.g. for inline defect detection, for optimising coating and drying parameters, for identifying root causes of failure before cells leave the factory. Improving both the hardware and the software for manufacturing can shorten validation cycles, reduce costs, accelerate time to market, and minimise waste, whether that waste arises from poor manufacturing quality or from the necessity of extensive testing.

Once cells are deployed, intelligent usage becomes paramount. We should extract the maximum performance from every cell, both for the success of the final application and for responsible use of resources. Here, battery modelling and simulation software, battery management systems, and the hardware of cell integration, from electrical components to thermal management, all matter enormously. Software-driven diagnostics are also increasingly important, with approaches emerging that extract health and degradation insights from data already collected during normal operation, without requiring additional measurement hardware.

There is no straightforward answer to whether hardware or software is more important. They go hand in hand.

What is an area that you are particularly interested in?

Personally, I am particularly interested in novel positive electrode material chemistries and new electrolyte formulations. I worked on both topics briefly, and find them scientifically intriguing. I believe they hold significant potential for next-generation applications.

According to a recent EPO report innovations in alternative chemistries has seen a surge in patent filings in this area. This has the potential to diversity battery chemistries and supply chains. Patents are an essential tool in supporting new innovations in this area and helping innovators to drive forwards progress in this field.

This article was prepared by Patent Director Thomas Lonsdale.