Science Daily February 7, 2023 Recent explorations pairing a sodium anode and aluminum cathode have demonstrated reversible, energy dense Na-Al cells with excellent rate capability using the electrochemical reaction between a molten Na anode and a NaAlCl4/Al cathode. A team of researchers in the US (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, industry) investigated the fundamental aspects of the NaAlCl4-NaAl2Cl7 reaction chemistry, and Na-metal/chloroaluminate batteries with excellent reversibility and areal capacity. Increasing the voltage window of the chloroaluminate Na-Al battery higher voltage was contributed by the acidic chloroaluminate cathode reaction, unlocking an additional specific energy of ∼119 Wh kg−1 by utilizing the conversion […]
Category Archives: Battery technology
Lithium-sulfur batteries are one step closer to powering the future
Science Daily January 6, 2023 Lithium-sulfur batteries exhibit poor cycle life and low energy content due to the polysulfides shuttling during cycling. An international team of researchers (South Korea, USA – Argonne National Laboratory, Stanford University) developed redox-active interlayers consisting of sulfur-impregnated polar ordered mesoporous silica. Unlike the redox-inactive interlayers, these redox-active interlayers enabled the electrochemical reactivation of the soluble polysulfides, protected the lithium metal electrode from detrimental reactions via silica-polysulfide polar-polar interactions and increased the cell capacity. When tested in a non-aqueous Li-S coin cell configuration, the use of the interlayer enabled an initial discharge capacity of about 8.5 […]
New strategy proposed for ultra-long cycle lithium-ion battery
Phys.org December 15, 2022 In the process of battery reaction, stress accumulation and lattice oxygen loss will cause some microcracks in lithium-rich manganese-based materials. The migration of transition metal ions will lead to phase transition of materials and other harmful side reactions. Researchers in China prepared high-performance cathode materials for lithium-rich manganese-based lithium-ion batteries. They did sulfur doping and in-situ growth of coherent spinel phase synchronously on the surface of lithium-rich manganese-based materials. The formation of TM-S bond configuration induced by S incorporation can effectively accelerated the lithium ions diffusion and suppressed the undesired oxygen redox. Therefore, the LMRS@S cathode […]
New battery technology has potential to significantly reduce energy storage costs
Science Daily December 7, 2022 The issues arising from the low S mass loading and poor cycling stability caused by the shuttle effect of polysulfides seriously limit the operating capacity and cycling capability of room-temperature sodium–sulfur (RT-Na/S) batteries. An international team of researchers (China, Australia) synthesized sulfur-doped graphene frameworks supporting atomically dispersed 2H-MoS2 and Mo1 (S@MoS2-Mo1/SGF) with a record high sulfur mass loading of 80.9 wt.% as an integrated dual active sites cathode for RT-Na/S batteries. They displayed unprecedented cyclic stability with a high initial capacity and a low-capacity fading rate of 0.05% per cycle over 1000 cycles. Experimental and […]
Flameproofing lithium-ion batteries with salt
Science Daily December 7, 2022 A team of researchers in the US (Stanford University, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, UC Berkeley) found that anchored solvent molecules can increase the ionic conductivity of the electrolyte without undermining its non-flammability. They developed a liquid-state polymer electrolyte composed of LiFSI salts, dimethoxyethane (DME) solvents, and polysiloxane tethered with ion-solvating moieties. DME coordinated with both the salt and the polymer, while, together with the salt, they synergistically plasticized the polymer to increase the ionic conductivity. The resulting non-flammable polymer electrolyte had a room-temperature ionic conductivity of 1.6 mS/cm and a wide operation window of 25°C–100°C. […]
Engineers solve a mystery on the path to smaller, lighter batteries
MIT News November 18, 2022 Whether dendrites are driven by mechanical failure or electrochemical degradation of solid electrolytes remains an open question. If internal mechanical forces drive failure, superimposing a compressive load that counters internal stress may mitigate dendrite penetration. A team of researchers in the US (MIT, Brown University) investigated this hypothesis by dynamically applying mechanical loads to growing dendrites in Li6.6La3Zr1.6Ta0.4O12 solid electrolytes. Operando microscopy revealed marked deflection in the dendrite growth trajectory at the onset of compressive loading. Sufficient loading the deflection averted cell failure. They quantified the impact of stack pressure and in-plane stresses on dendrite […]
Putting the brakes on lithium-ion batteries to prevent fires
Science Daily November 14, 2022 Researchers in China have developed a kind of novel shape-memorized current collector (SMCC), which can successfully brake battery thermal runaway at the battery internal overheating status. Unlike traditional current collectors made of commercial copper foils, SMCC is made of a micropatterned shape memory micron-sized film with copper deposition. SMCC displays ideal conductivity at normal temperatures and turns to be insulative at overheating temperatures. According to the researchers a battery consisting of an SMCC can run normally at temperatures lower than 90 °C, while it quickly achieves self-shutdown before the occurrence of battery combustion and explosion…read […]
The answer is in the sheets: 2D nanosheets as anodes in Li-ion batteries
Phys.org October 31, 2022 2D nanostructures based on transition-metal diborides (TMDs) are theoretically predicted to possess an exceptionally high rate and long cycling stability for Li-ion storage owing to the intrinsic presence of boron honeycomb planes and multivalent transition-metal atoms. An international team of researchers (Japan, India) investigated the Li-ion storage potential of the TMD-based nanostructure–titanium diboride (TiB2)-based hierarchical nanosheets (THNS). They demonstrated that THNS can be utilized as a high-rate anode material for Li-ion battery (LIB) and that a high discharge capacity can be obtained at a current rate of 0.025 A g1– galvanostatic charge/discharge. They demonstrated that the […]
Researchers design next-generation electrolytes for lithium batteries
Nanowerk October 29, 2022 The lithium-metal batteries cycling encounters a low Coulombic efficiency (CE) due to the unceasing electrolyte decomposition. Improving the stability of solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) suppresses the decomposition and increases CE. However, SEI morphology and chemistry alone cannot account for CE, and a full explanation is still lacking. Researchers in Japan found that in diverse electrolytes, the large shift in the Li electrode potential and its association with the Li+ coordination structure influences the CE. Machine learning regression analysis and vibrational spectroscopy revealed that the formation of ion pairs is essential for upshifting the Li electrode potential, […]
Stable sodium anodes for sodium metal batteries
Phys.org November 2, 2022 All-solid-state batteries are disadvantaged by their poor physical solid-solid interfacial contact and low ionic conductivity, which restrict their performance and hinder their short-term commercial applicability. Based on the interfacial protection strategy, researchers at UT Austin introduced fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) into the PDOL system (1,3-Dioxolane (DOL) that can be polymerized through catatonically ring-opening reactions at room temperature to obtain poly(1,3-dioxolane). After the introduction of FEC, the accumulation of reaction products was reduced at the Na metal anode side prior to DOL addition, forming a NaF-rich passivation layer and inhibiting further side reactions between DOL and the Na […]