Polaron
Led by Polaron
Polaron is the Winner of the Manchester Prize: Energy, Environment & Infrastructure.
Polaron, an artificial intelligence technology that dramatically accelerates the development of new advanced materials from decades to just one day, has won the £1 million inaugural Manchester Prize.
Polaron leverages state-of-the-art generative AI and microstructural image data – the microscopic features of a material visible under a microscope – to bridge the gap between the way materials are made and their performance. The technology empowers engineers to characterise materials, quantify microstructural variation, and optimise microstructural designs faster than ever before.
Polaron has demonstrated a more than 10% improvement in the energy density of batteries, roughly equivalent to adding 20 extra miles of range to a typical electric vehicle. Its AI models can explore thousands of material designs in under a day – a task that would take current state-of-the-art physics-based simulations around 50 years. The growing start-up unites AI, engineering, and materials science, paving the way for material innovations in batteries and beyond.
