Joint Center for Energy Storage Research

What Joint Center for Energy Storage Research does

The Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR) was a U.S. Department of Energy Innovation Hub that operated from 2012 to 2023, headquartered at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois (9700 S. Cass Avenue). It functioned as a collaborative research consortium combining discovery science, battery design, research prototyping, and manufacturing collaboration, with participants drawn from government, academic, and industrial research institutions. The hub organized its work around five interconnected research thrusts—liquid solvation science, solid solvation science, flowable redoxmer science, charge transfer at dynamic interfaces, and science of material complexity—targeting next-generation, beyond-lithium-ion battery technology for transportation electrification and electric grid applications. Mission focused on overcoming critical scientific and technical barriers to enable high-performance, inexpensive electricity storage supporting widespread deployment of electric vehicles and broad penetration of wind and solar electricity.

JCESR's research outputs included the development of new materials and molecules for energy storage, novel operando characterization tools enabling atomic and molecular-level understanding of battery operation, and the pioneering use of data science methodologies to accelerate discovery. Tangible scientific outputs comprised more than 1,000 peer-reviewed publications, 65,000 citations, an H-index of 121, 66 disclosed inventions, and more than 350 trained alumni across multidisciplinary energy storage science. The hub's research also catalyzed the creation of three startup companies and attracted over $900 million in subsequent funding as a downstream consequence of its research outputs.

JCESR did not generate commercial revenue. As a federally funded research entity, operations were financed through U.S. Department of Energy appropriations and served a mission mandate rather than a commercial customer base. The hub was led by founding director George Crabtree from inception until his death in January 2023, with Venkat Srinivasan continuing as director until JCESR concluded later that year. Mission continuity was preserved through successor Argonne programs—the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS) and the Low-cost Earth-abundant Na-ion Storage (LENS) consortium—under Venkat Srinivasan's continued leadership.

Name

Joint Center for Energy Storage Research

Legal name

Joint Center for Energy Storage Research

Website

https://jcesr.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

JCESR was a U.S. Department of Energy Innovation Hub (2012–2023) led by Argonne National Laboratory that combined discovery science, battery design, and prototyping to develop next-generation beyond-lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and grid storage.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Energy Storage Research

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Formation, Testing & Quality/Metrology Equipment for Batteries (EUAFABAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Battery Analytics, Digital Twins, SoH/SoC Estimation & Degradation-Aware Dispatch (EUAFAKAK)

Keywords

• Energy storage research
• Battery materials science
• Beyond lithium-ion batteries
• Electrochemistry research
• Energy storage innovation

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Federal Government Research Funding: As a Department of Energy Innovation Hub, JCESR operated on federal government research funding. The hub attracted more than $900 million in subsequent funding as a result of its research outputs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

JCESR was a U.S. Department of Energy Innovation Hub led by Argonne National Laboratory that performed research and development on next-generation, beyond-lithium-ion battery technologies. The hub combined discovery science, battery design, research prototyping, and manufacturing collaboration across five research thrusts (liquid solvation, solid solvation, flowable redoxmer, charge transfer at dynamic interfaces, and science of material complexity) to enable transformative energy storage for transportation and the electric grid.

Product overview

The Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR) was a Department of Energy Innovation Hub operating from 2012 to 2023, led by Argonne National Laboratory. It functioned as a single unified research organization combining discovery science, battery design, research prototyping, and manufacturing collaboration to develop next-generation, beyond-lithium-ion batteries. The hub was organized around five interconnected research thrusts: liquid solvation science, solid solvation science, flowable redoxmer science, charge transfer at dynamic interfaces, and science of material complexity. JCESR produced tangible outputs including new materials and molecules, operando characterization tools, and data science methodologies. The hub's work led to the creation of three startup companies and inspired successor programs including ACCESS (Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science) and LENS (Low-cost Earth-abundant Na-ion Storage Consortium).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• JCESR Research Hub (DOE Innovation Hub Services) A Department of Energy Innovation Hub combining discovery science, battery design, research prototyping, and manufacturing collaboration to develop next-generation, beyond-lithium-ion batteries for transportation and electric grid applications. Served government, academic, and industrial researchers across multiple disciplines.

Quantifiable outcome

• $900 million+ in subsequent funding attracted
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Sila Nanotechnologies: Commercial battery materials company developing silicon anode technology as a next-generation alternative to graphite; pursues the same mission of delivering higher-performance, lower-cost batteries that JCESR targeted, but with a single-product commercialization focus.
• QuantumScape: Public company developing solid-state lithium-metal batteries for EVs; targets the same beyond-lithium-ion performance breakthroughs JCESR pursued, particularly through solid solvation and interface chemistry, but operates as a venture-funded commercial entity.
• ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy): DOE agency funding high-risk, high-reward energy R&D projects including transformative battery concepts; shares JCESR's mission of advancing breakthrough energy storage science, but operates as a federal funding entity rather than a research consortium.

Direct peers

• Oak Ridge National Laboratory: DOE national laboratory conducting battery materials research, including the Battery Manufacturing Facility and grid storage initiatives; another federated research organization pursuing beyond-lithium-ion energy storage concepts alongside JCESR.
• Wildcat Discovery Technologies: A privately-funded materials discovery company using high-throughput experimentation and data science to identify novel battery chemistries, directly comparable to JCESR's emphasis on data-driven materials discovery for next-generation energy storage.
• NAATBatt International: A nonprofit industry consortium advancing advanced battery technology manufacturing in North America; mirrors JCESR's consortium model of aggregating government, academic, and industrial stakeholders to advance battery science and commercialization.
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL): DOE national laboratory conducting extensive energy storage R&D including battery materials and grid storage research; operates as a federally-funded research organization pursuing next-generation battery concepts comparable to JCESR's mission.
• Battery Innovation Center: Indiana-based industry-led consortium and prototyping facility for advanced battery technology development, integrating government, academic, and industrial partners; closely parallel to JCESR's consortium model pairing discovery science with prototyping and manufacturing collaboration.
• The Faraday Institution: The UK's national battery research institute, government-funded and structured as a consortium of universities and industry partners — almost an exact operational analog to JCESR, focused on translational energy storage research from fundamental science toward commercialization.
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL): DOE national laboratory with a substantial battery R&D portfolio covering materials characterization, grid-scale storage, and advanced battery chemistries; serves a comparable role to JCESR within the DOE national lab ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/JCESRHub
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@ArgonneLab
• Facebookfacebook.com/argonne
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/162510
• Instagraminstagram.com/argonne

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Joint Center for Energy Storage Research