Reimagining the battery: structural materials that store electricity

A new £7 million research programme led by Imperial College London, Durham University and the University of Bristol will investigate materials that combine energy storage and structural performance in a single component.

What if the everyday objects around us could do more than perform a single function? What if a bicycle frame could store energy, a prosthetic limb could power itself, or the bodywork of a vehicle could replace the role of its battery? 

 Researchers at Imperial College London, Durham University and the University of Bristol have launched a major new programme to explore materials that do two jobs at once: forming the structure of everyday products while also storing the energy they need to operate. 

Funded by a £7 million Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Programme Grant, the five-year EleComp (Electric Composites) programme will investigate structural power composites (SPCs), materials that can simultaneously bear mechanical loads and store electrical energy. By combining two functions within a single material, SPCs could fundamentally reshape how products are designed, manufactured and used. 

Rather than treating batteries as separate components that must be packaged, protected and accommodated, structural power composites could enable energy storage to become part of an object's very fabric. This will reduce weight, volume and material use while opening up entirely new possibilities for designers and engineers. Future applications could range from aircraft and vehicles to consumer electronics, medical devices and infrastructure. 

Professor Richard S Trask, Co-Investigator for EleComp, said: 

"EleComp will change the way we think about composites. By combining structural performance and energy storage in a single material, we have the opportunity to redesign entire product categories around new economic and life-cycle models that challenge traditional technological paradigms. Integrating load-bearing components with rechargeable energy storage could reduce weight, minimise material use and improve energy efficiency, helping to create more sustainable products, from electric vehicles with greater range to lighter and more resource-efficient consumer technologies."  

The transformative potential of these materials has attracted global attention. In 2025, the World Economic Forum (WEF) identified structural energy storage materials as one of the world's leading emerging technologies, recognising their potential to fundamentally rethink how functionality is designed into materials and products. 

The implications extend far beyond technical performance. As products become both structures and energy stores, the distinction between what an object is and what it does begins to blur. Researchers believe this could redefine how people interact with technologies in their homes, workplaces and everyday lives. 

To explore these possibilities, EleComp brings together eleven researchers with expertise spanning materials science, electrochemistry, polymer composites, sustainability and, unusually for an engineering programme, anthropology. 

While engineers often focus on improving efficiency, performance and functionality, anthropologists bring a complementary perspective centred on people: how technologies fit into daily life, how they shape behaviour, and how society adapts to new ways of living and working.  

Structural power composites have the potential to transform the way we think about both energy storage and physical objects. Instead of adding batteries to products, the products themselves could become part of the energy system.  Professor Emile Greenhalgh Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies and Principal Investigator for EleComp

The EleComp team will therefore investigate not only how structural power composites can be developed, but also how they should be used. By integrating social and technical perspectives from the outset, the researchers aim to anticipate the wider consequences of a world in which energy storage becomes embedded throughout the built environment and everyday objects. 

Professor Emile Greenhalgh, Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies and Principal Investigator for EleComp, said: 

"Structural power composites have the potential to transform the way we think about both energy storage and physical objects. Instead of adding batteries to products, the products themselves could become part of the energy system. 

This creates exciting opportunities for greater efficiency and sustainability, but it also raises important questions about how people will use, experience and benefit from these technologies. 

One of the distinctive aspects of EleComp is that we are bringing together experts from across engineering, materials science and anthropology. By combining technical innovation with an understanding of human behaviour and societal change, we hope to develop not only technologies that are possible, but technologies that are genuinely valuable and beneficial." 

The programme will tackle some of the fundamental scientific challenges that currently limit structural power composites. Researchers will investigate how materials can simultaneously allow ions to move freely for energy storage while maintaining the strength and stiffness required for structural performance. The team will also develop new approaches to modelling, manufacturing and testing these multifunctional materials, drawing inspiration from nature to create novel material architectures. 

EleComp is supported by a broad international network of academic collaborators and industrial partners from sectors eager to adopt structural power composites. The programme builds on the UK's established strengths in advanced composites and seeks to provide the scientific foundations needed to move these materials from the laboratory towards real-world applications. 

 Ultimately, EleComp is helping to lay the foundations for a future in which materials do more than serve a single purpose. As multifunctional materials emerge, energy storage could become seamlessly embedded within everyday objects and infrastructure, marking a seismic shift away from reliance on standalone batteries. By bringing together expertise from engineering, sustainability, electrochemistry and anthropology, the programme seeks to ensure that this new era is shaped not only by what technology can achieve, but by how people want to live, work and interact with the world around them.