The expert: Battery figurehead attracts businesses to northern Netherlands

Catalysis, parasitic reactions, reversibility, nickel manganese cobalt oxide. Professor Moniek Tromp deals with it every day. The authority in Europe is working on the battery of the future. In Groningen.

We have space, we have an educated workforce, we have talent, we have infrastructure. And we have Moniek Tromp. The Professor of Materials Chemistry at the University of Groningen is an additional argument for companies to come to the Northern Netherlands. Indeed, several (large international) parties have decided to come to our part of the country for the production of batteries and their components. For your information, that always involves rechargeable batteries, also called batteries.

It may be going a bit far to attribute it all to Moniek Trump. What is certain is that she has helped. Batteries are booming and are becoming increasingly important. We are developing specimens that last longer and are also more sustainable in other ways. Batteries from raw materials from Europe, batteries based on common minerals, recyclable too. If that succeeds, it will mean a lot.'

With rising energy prices, it becomes even more clear how much we all need to move toward a sustainable energy supply. 'That was already true, of course, because we have to save our climate. But you always see that money turns out to be another slightly stronger driver.' So we are betting globally on wind and solar energy. A good idea, provided you have enough capacity to store peaks in energy production. Hydrogen can play a role in that, but it won't work without batteries. 'We need it all. Hydrogen and also different types of batteries, depending on location, application and required properties.'

Frankly, the Netherlands is a bit behind on the battery front. We have focused a little too much on hydrogen for my taste.
Moniek Tromp

As much energy storage as possible and no degeneration, that is the goal

With her research group, Tromp is studying in detail how rechargeable batteries work. 'We use X-rays to see exactly what happens. That way we know how electrodes behave and we can see why the capacity of batteries slowly decreases. That is what we are trying to solve by using different materials and structures. No degeneration. That's our ultimate goal, along with increasing energy capacity. You don't want people to have to have a shipping container at home, so to speak, for energy storage.'

Nice ecosystem

In this respect, she is in the right place in Groningen. The expertise of the university's Faculty of Materials Science enjoys international fame. With illustrious predecessors such as Sibrandus Stratingh (first electric car in 1835) and Ben Feringa (Nobel Prize 2016 for 'electric' nanomotor), the RUG was already well on the electric road.

'Apart from that, you can see that a nice ecosystem is developing here. The university is positioning itself as a battery research institute, Chemport Europe has a unique proposition. There is green power there to produce batteries. And that's what companies are looking for. Who want to contribute to reducing their footprint. Batteries themselves are important in this regard, but production must also be sustainable.'

To move forward, academia and industry must embrace each other, is her firm belief. 'Look, we do basic research, but not just to write papers that disappear into the bottom drawer. We want to have impact, to contribute to a better world. And that's only possible if our ideas and findings are used by commercial parties. Conversely, we can help industry improve battery technology. For the same reason, but also because it produces beautiful research.'