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Bar-Ilan Steps Forward as a Leader in Electric Car Battery Research and Development

Bar-Ilan University experts are collaborating with top industry pioneers on new materials and techniques for electric vehicles.

Even with the temporary drop in gas prices, the development of electric cars has taken on greater urgency as the vast majority of scientists agree that fossil fuels endanger both the environment and human health. Two BIU scientists are leading the charge to improve electric car batteries.

Prof. Arie Zaban – Developer of the Aluminum Air Battery

Developing an affordable, longer-lasting Aluminum-Air battery for electric cars is within reach thanks to the research work conducted by Prof. Arie Zaban and his team at Bar-Ilan University’s Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials (BINA). 

With the help of nanotechnology, Prof. Zaban has overcome the challenge of how to use the energy within aluminum efficiently and over an extended time. Even though aluminum is a relatively expensive metal, Zaban chose it because of its abundance. It comprises 8 percent of the earth’s crust. 

Prof. Zaban has sold his battery technology to the Israeli start-up company Phinergy, which plans to use it in electric cars in 2017.

Prof. Doron Aurbach – Creating Rechargeable Lithium and Magnesium Batteries

Prof. Doron Aurbach, of the Department of Chemistry and BINA, is helping to facilitate a worldwide revolution in electric cars through cooperation with leading companies such as General Motors and the German chemical company BASF. 

He runs a lab that specializes in novel devices for energy storage and conversion, rechargeable lithium and Li-ion batteries and super (EDL) capacitors, as well as rechargeable magnesium batteries. 

As the winner of the prestigious 2014 Ernest B. Yeager Award from the International Battery Association, Aurbach was recognized for his lifelong contributions to the development of alternative power sources.