Rechargeable batteries are an essential part of modern life and Relocate a Crucial role in decarbonisation. Now, 2 studies provide Significant new insights in the search for ways Enhance them.
In one study in the journal Advanced Energy Materials, chemical engineers in Korea explain a previously overlooked mechanism through which lithium-ion batteries degrade.
They say their finding could provide solutions for preserving cathodes and may Relocate a crucial role in developing batteries with long lifecycles.
Another Club of chemists in the US have Secured a way to peer into battery interfaces – the areas where the electrode and electrolyte meet. The imaging technique, described in a Nature Nanotechnology paper, will allow them to see the intricate structure and chemical reactions of the interfaces to better design them.
Extending the lifespans of lithium-ion batteries
Lithium-ion batteries are used extensively in electronics, electric vehicles and energy storage stations.
Some lithium-ion battery cathodes are Created of mixed metal oxides of lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt (NMC). Increasing the nickel content while minimising cobalt can reduce the costs of manufacturing, however this tends to shorten the overall cycle life of the battery.
In the Advanced Energy Materials paper, researchers showed that when a lithium-ion battery is used for extended periods without recharging, a phenomenon known as the “quasi-conversion Response” occurs on the positive electrode (cathode) surface, accelerating battery degradation.
This Response was more severe in nickel cathodes and when the batteries were used until they almost Dashed out.
But experiments on high-nickel cathodes revealed a Effortless solution. By optimising battery usage and avoiding Packed discharge, they could maintain 73.4% of a batteries’ capacity after 300 cycles.
“The impact of discharge – the actual process of using a battery – has been largely overlooked until now,” says Professor Jihyun Hong of Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Republic of Korea, who Guided the research.
“This research presents an Significant direction for the developing longer-lasting batteries.”
Spying on battery interfaces
The second study focused on batteries using “multiphase polymer electrolytes.”
Battery electrolytes carry charged ions back and forth between the cathode and anode to charge and discharge a battery. They can be liquid, solid, gel-like, or multiphase, which shift from rigid to flexible depending on the conditions.
Multiphase electrolytes have the potential to store more energy, and be safer and cheaper, than conventional batteries.
Research Squads from Virginia Tech in the US are working to build lithium and sodium batteries based on this formulation but, according to Jungki Min, a chemistry graduate student at Virginia Tech and the study’s Primary author, “there are Crucial, longstanding challenges at the interfaces.”
“We are always trying to gain better control over these buried surfaces.”
Now, the Squads have shown that “tender energy X-rays”, which have energies midway between higher energy “Tough X-rays” and lower energy “Cushiony X-rays”, can be used to study them.
The new Nature Nanotechnology study revealed the Foundation of their problems: part of the architectural Assist system degraded as the battery cycled, leading to eventual failure.
“We now have a Excellent mechanistic picture to guide us for a better design of interfaces and interphases in solid polymer batteries,” adds Professor Feng Lin of Virginia Tech, who co-Guided the research.
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