A salt battery can be used to store solar heat from summer to be used in winter. The battery contains salt hydrates, which are salts with water in the crystals. This battery recharges by heating the salt in summer, which causes the water to go out of the crystals. In winter, water is added to the crystals and the heat is released. There are hundreds of these salt hydrates, but many of them are unsuitable for use in homes. We therefore assessed the hydrates on a number of conditions, such as availability, safety, and compactness. After this evaluation, only about a dozen salts remained, which were tested in the lab for cyclisability (the battery should last for years). In the process, we discovered a few new salts that are suitable for this application, and we examined two of the new salts and a known salt in detail to understand under what conditions (starting from what temperature and with how much water vapour) they work best.
Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Radboud University, including research on the crystallisation of table salt at freezing temperature at the Department of Solid State Chemistry. This was followed by a Master's degree in Physical Chemistry at Radboud University with a research internship at the same department to study the crystallisation of table salt under the influence of impurities. A second research internship took place in Ireland, at the SSPC at the University of Limerick to study the crystallisation of paracetamol. This was followed by a PhD at the Solid State Chemistry Department at Radboud University with a research study on salt hydrates for heat storage. Currently Solid State Scientist at Ardena in Oss.