Science on Tap: The Science Of Batteries

The fast shift (fast enough?) of society away from fossil fuels has led to several EVs coming to market making batteries a topic of conversation in our day-to-day life. Every day we hear news about a revolutionary battery breakthrough by scientists, vehicles catching on fire inciting safety concerns, and even government policies being shaped around them. In this session, Varun Natu will talk about some fun history of Li-ion batteries, the basics of a battery and why they catch on fire, and what the future of batteries might be!

About

Varun Natu is a scientist at the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, where his research focus is on developing materials for safer and higher energy lithium and sodium-ion batteries. He received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Pune University after which he did his Ph.D. in the department of materials science and engineering at Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA, where he worked on incorporating 2D materials as battery electrodes. He has collaborated with companies like Saft batteries, Murata manufacturing, US Devcom, KPIT, and St.Gobain. He has published over 40 papers and has filed 5 US patents in this field.