Belcher's colleague Paula Hammond, an expert in making highly ordered, self-assembling polymers and other materials, created a pattern of tiny posts, onto which the researchers deposited several layers of polymers that act as the battery's electrolyte.

FORBES: Breakthroughs

This stack inside a flow battery, where the electrolyte meets the electrodes, looks a lot like a fuel cell.

FORBES

BASF, the German chemicals conglomerate, said last week that it would pursue a stronger position in the lithium-ion battery space by commercializing higher-quality electrolyte formulas.

FORBES: Chemicals Giant Gambles on Li-ion Batteries

They've tested the anode and the electrolyte, but they are still working on the final piece--the battery's cathode--using this same method.

FORBES: Breakthroughs

This molecular mouthful has the rare ability among solvents of being able both to dissolve cellulose and to act as an electrolyte that is, a chemical that can carry current between the electrodes of a battery in the form of charged molecules, or ions.

ECONOMIST: Storing electricity