Assist. Prof. Iliyan Popov, PhD from the Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems (IEES-BAS) is one of the two winners of this year’s “Entrepreneurs in Science” competition organized by Karoll Knowledge Foundation. The award ceremony took place on 23 January 2020 in the building of Karoll Knowledge Foundation.
The project “Oxymet – an environmentally friendly magnesium-air battery for industrial applications” is working on the development of a battery that can be used in electric sea / river transport, water / subwater drones and diving equipment. Magnesium, air and salt water are required to produce electricity with Oxymet. Magnesium is 1 000 times more common in the Earth’s crust and oceans than lithium, making it a much cheaper raw material. It is environmentally friendly. At the same time, the magnesium-air battery is also especially safe to use.
Dr. Popov, together with Assoc. Prof. Reneta Bukureshtlieva, Dr. Yovka Milusheva, Eng. Krum Banov from IEES-BAS and with the help of Ms. Desislava Boneva, Dr. Irina Gocheva and Eng. Patrick Gugenberger have refined the technology for the development of metal-air batteries, on which scientists from the Institute worked as early as the 70s of the 20th century. With the award received, the team plans to continue work on the commercialization of the battery for use in the next generation of electric water transport.
The competition is a final part of the Foundation’s annual program of the same name which aims to support young Bulgarian scientists in their work on significant scientific topics and projects of practical applicability, helping them develop their entrepreneurial skills to commercialize the results of their scientific knowledge and inventions.