Nanowerk October 24, 2023 Researchers at MIT have introduced Li-garnet Li7La3Zr2O12−d (LLZO) as a suitable ceramic due to its high Li+ conductivity and wide electrochemical stability window. However, high sintering temperatures raise concerns about the cathode interface stability, production costs, and energy consumption for scalable manufacture. They developed a “sinter-free” route to stabilize cLLZO as films at half of its sinter temperature. They established a time-temperature-transformation (TTT) diagram which captured the amorphous-to-crystalline LLZO transformation based on crystallization enthalpy analysis and confirmed stabilization of thin-film cLLZO at record low temperatures of 500 °C. According to the researchers their findings pave the way […]
Category Archives: Battery technology
New battery holds promise for green energy
Science Daily September 6, 2023 Lithium-based nonaqueous redox flow batteries (LRFBs) are alternative systems to conventional aqueous redox flow batteries because of their higher operating voltage and theoretical energy density. However, the use of ion-selective membranes limits the large-scale applicability of LRFBs. Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have developed high-voltage membrane-free LRFBs based on an all-organic biphasic system. Under static conditions, these batteries with 0.5 M redox-active material delivered capacity retentions of 98%, 98%, and 92%, respectively, for 100 cycles over ~55 days at the current density of 1 mA/cm2 and a temperature of 27 °C. The battery delivered an initial average […]
Pixel-by-pixel analysis yields insights into lithium-ion batteries
MIT News September 13, 2023 Reaction rates at spatially heterogeneous, unstable interfaces are difficult to quantify, yet they are essential in engineering many chemical systems, such as batteries and electrocatalysts. Experimental characterizations of such materials by operando microscopy produce rich image datasets, but data-driven methods to learn physics from these images are lacking because of the complex coupling of reaction kinetics, surface chemistry and phase separation. A team of researchers in the US (MIT, Stanford University, industry, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory) showed that heterogeneous reaction kinetics can be learned from in situ scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) images of carbon-coated […]
Thin-film batteries rechargeable in just one minute
Science Daily August 29, 2023 The power capability of Li-ion batteries has become increasingly limiting for the electrification of transport on land and in the air. The specific power of Li-ion batteries is restricted due to the required cathode thickness of a few tens of micrometers. Researchers in Switzerland have developed a design of monolithically stacked thin-film cells that had the potential to increase the power ten-fold. They demonstrated an experimental proof-of-concept consisting of two monolithically stacked thin-film cells. Each cell consisted of a silicon anode, a solid-oxide electrolyte, and a lithium cobalt oxide cathode. The battery could be cycled […]
Move over lithium-ion: Zinc-air batteries a cheaper and safer alternative
Science Daily August 21, 2023 An international team of researchers (Australia, Saudi Arabia) has developed a nanocomposite based on ternary CoNiFe-layered double hydroxides (LDH) and cobalt coordinated and N-doped porous carbon (Co-N-C) network, obtained by the in-situ growth of LDH over the surface of ZIF-67-derived 3D porous network. Co-N-C network contributes to the oxygen reduction reaction activity, while CoNiFe-LDH imparts to the oxygen evolution reaction activity. The rich active sites and enhanced electronic and mass transport properties stemmed from their unique architecture, culminated into outstanding bi-functional catalytic activity towards oxygen evolution/reduction in alkaline media. In ZABs, it displays a high […]
Aluminum materials show promising performance for safer, cheaper, more powerful batteries
Science Daily July 19, 2023 Metal negative electrodes that alloy with lithium have high theoretical charge storage capacity and are ideal candidates for developing high-energy rechargeable batteries. However, such electrode materials show limited reversibility in Li-ion batteries with standard non-aqueous liquid electrolyte solutions. A team of researchers in the US (Georgia Institute of Technology, industry) used non-pre-lithiated aluminum-foil-based negative electrodes with engineered microstructures in an all-solid-state Li-ion cell configuration. When a 30-μm-thick Al94.5In5.5 negative electrode is combined with a Li6PS5Cl solid-state electrolyte and a LiNi0.6Mn0.2Co0.2O2-based positive electrode, lab-scale cells delivered hundreds of stable cycles with practically relevant areal capacities at […]
Three-dimensional structure control technology enables high-performance fuel cells with higher stability
Nanowerk July 26, 2023 Over the past few decades, considerable advances have been achieved in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) based on the development of material technology. Recently, an emerging multiscale architecting technology covering nanometer, micrometer, and millimeter scales has been regarded as an alternative strategy to overcome the hindrance to achieving high-performance and reliable PEMFCs. In their review article researchers in South Korea provided summaries of progress in the key components of PEMFCs based on a novel architecture strategy. In the first section, diverse architectural methods for patterning the membrane surface with random, single-scale, and multiscale structures as […]
Next-generation flow battery design sets records
Science Daily July 10, 2023 Redox flow batteries have a unique architecture that potentially enables cost-effective long-duration energy storage to address the intermittency introduced by increased renewable integration for the decarbonization of the electric power sector. Targeted molecular engineering has demonstrated electrochemical reversibility in natively redox-inactive ketone molecules in aqueous electrolytes. However, the kinetics of fluorenone-based flow batteries continue to be limited by slow alcohol oxidation. A team of researchers in the US (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Yale University) showed how strategically designed proton regulators can accelerate alcohol oxidation and thus enhance battery kinetics. Fluorenone-based flow batteries with the organic […]
Towards efficient lithium–air batteries with solution plasma-based synthesis of perovskite hydroxide catalysts
Science Daily June 26, 2023 CoSn(OH)6 (CSO) is a perovskite-type hydroxide that is a promising catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). An international team of researchers (Japan, China, Thailand) synthesized and characterized CSO using a solution plasma process. Tests revealed that highly crystalline CSO could be synthesized by adjusting the pH of the precursor solution to more than 10 to 12. The synthesized CSO had a cubic shape, and its size was approximately 100 to 300 nm. The valences of Co and Sn in CSO were divalent and tetravalent, respectively. The catalytic properties were evaluated using an electrochemical method. […]
Calcium rechargeable battery with long cycle life
Science Daily May 23, 2023 As potential alternatives to Li-ion batteries, rechargeable Ca metal batteries offer advantageous features such as high energy density, cost-effectiveness, and natural elemental abundance. However, Ca metal passivation by electrolytes and a lack of cathode materials with efficient Ca2+ storage capabilities, impede the development of practical Ca metal batteries. To overcome these limitations, an international team of researchers (Japan, USA – Toyota Research Institute of North America) verified the applicability of a CuS cathode in Ca metal batteries and its electrochemical properties. Their results showed that a CuS cathode comprising nanoparticles that are well dispersed in […]