A team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), led by Prof Brushett, recently visited Queen Mary for a two week period as part of an exchange project funded by The Royal Society.

Running from 2022, and finishing this year, the project seeks to improve upon one of the performance-determining components of redox flow batteries: the electrodes.

The group use electrospinning to manufacture sustainable new materials, replacing current fossil fuel-derived carbon electrodes with electrodes generated from biomass waste. Electrospinning is a versatile technique that enables the production of freestanding fibrous materials for a variety of applications.

An additional part of the project focuses on analysing the viability and economic aspects of the use of biomass waste, while also enabling a finer control of the materials properties.

This is achieved through a combination of modelling and experiment, to enhance technical performance and durability.

As well as working on the project together, Ana Sobrido's QMUL team showed the MIT team some of the delights of East London during their stay, including a traditional pub meal.