An international team of researchers co-led by the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) has developed a new version of the nickel-iron battery, a technology once favored by Thomas Edison. The research group used proteins to grow very small clusters of metal and embedded them in an ultrathin carbon-based conductor to create electrodes. This battery prototype charged in seconds and continued working after more than 12,000 cycles, indicating possible use for storing renewable energy.
In the early 1900s, electric cars were more common than gasoline-powered vehicles in the United States. At that time, lead-acid batteries designed by Edison had limited range and high cost. Edison believed nickel-iron batteries could improve performance with longer range and faster recharge times but these benefits were not realized due to technical limitations and advances in combustion engines.
The UCLA-led collaboration revisited this concept using modern materials science. Their prototype battery can recharge in seconds instead of hours and has a lifespan equivalent to over 30 years of daily recharges. The technology uses tiny metal clusters patterned with proteins and bonded to sheets only one atom thick.
“People often think of modern nanotechnology tools as complicated and high-tech, but our approach is surprisingly simple and straightforward,” said Maher El-Kady, assistant researcher at UCLA’s chemistry and biochemistry department. “We are just mixing common ingredients, applying gentle heating steps and using raw materials that are widely available.”
The study appears in the journal Small.
The research was inspired by natural processes such as bone formation in animals or shell creation in shellfish. Proteins act as scaffolds for minerals in nature; the team used this idea to form small clusters of nickel for positive electrodes and iron for negative electrodes.
“We were inspired by the way nature deposits these types of materials,” said Ric Kaner, distinguished professor at UCLA College and Samueli School of Engineering. “Laying down minerals in the correct fashion builds bones that are strong, yet flexible enough to not be brittle. How it’s done is almost as important as the material used, and proteins guide how they are placed.”
The researchers used proteins from beef production as templates for growing metal clusters smaller than five nanometers—about 10,000 times thinner than a human hair—and detected single atoms within their electrodes.
These proteins were combined with graphene oxide, a two-dimensional material made up of carbon sheets decorated with oxygen atoms. After superheating in water followed by baking at high temperature, the process created an aerogel structure composed almost entirely of air.
According to El-Kady: “As we go from larger particles down to these extremely tiny nanoclusters, the surface area gets dramatically higher. That’s a huge advantage for batteries. When the particles are that tiny, almost every single atom can participate in the reaction. So, charging and discharging happen way faster, you can store more charge, and the whole battery just works more efficiently.”
While this new battery charges quickly and lasts long, its storage capacity does not match current lithium-ion batteries commonly used for electric vehicles. Researchers suggest potential applications include storing excess electricity from solar farms or providing backup power at data centers.
“Because this technology could extend the lifetime of batteries to decades upon decades, it might be ideal for storing renewable energy or quickly taking over when power is lost,” El-Kady said. “This would remove worries about the changing cost of infrastructure.”
The team is now testing other metals with their fabrication method and considering alternatives to bovine proteins that may be less expensive or easier to scale up.
Study authors include Habibeh Bishkul (Tarbiat Modares University), Abolhassan Noori (Tarbiat Modares University), Mir Mousavi (Tarbiat Modares University), Nahla Mohamed (UCLA/Cairo University), Mohammad Rahmanifar (Shahed University), Nasim Hassani (Razi University), Mehdi Neek-Amal (Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University/University of Antwerp), Junlei Liu (Zhejiang University of Technology) and Cheng Zhang (Zhejiang University of Technology). Funding came from various sources including Iran National Science Foundation; National Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province; Nanotech Energy Inc.; a UC Climate Action Seed Grant; and Tarbiat Modares University Research Council.
UCLA has been associated with Nobel laureates and MacArthur Fellows through its history (official website). The university is recognized for excellence across scholarship, arts, athletics (official website), fosters diverse perspectives through academic programs (official website), operates on a 419-acre campus (official website), has gained national/international acclaim (official website), and functions within the wider UC system (official website).