Researchers at Stanford University have taken a large step towards creating a cheap, rechargeable battery with the capacity to be used in large-scale energy plants, a technology that has eluded scientists for years.

Using copper nanoparticles, study author and graduate student in materials sciences and engineering Colin Wessells says they were able to create the high-voltage electrode, a critical component of any battery. The battery is capable of sustaining 40,000 full cycles of charging and discharging, making it 100 times more effective than a standard lithium ion battery.

“That is a breakthrough performance—a battery that will keep running for tens of thousands of cycles and never fail,” said Yi Cui, an associate professor of materials science and engineering, in an interview with the Stanford Report. Cui is a co-author of the paper.

This battery utilizes the structure of these copper nanotubes to let electrically charged ions to freely move in and out without damaging the crystalline structure, this improving the lifespan of the battery. While this type of battery would need to be bigger than a lithium ion battery to hold the same charge, cost is a more important factor when trying to build a battery capable of storing energy from the power grid.

“We decided we needed to develop a ‘new chemistry’ if we were going to make low-cost batteries and battery electrodes for the power grid,” Wessells told the Stanford Report.

However these materials only work for the high-voltage electrode, and a low-voltage anode will also need to be created to complete the battery. The researchers are already looking for a way to build the second component.

Though efficient batteries have been created before, Wessells said the ease and cheap cost of this battery would result in better commercial energy storage.

“There are no technical challenges to producing this on a big-enough scale to actually build a real battery,” Wessells said.

The U.S. Department of Energy and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology provided funding for this research.

–Brendan O’Byrne