All posts tagged: lithiumion

Building up the success of lithium-ion batteries

Building up the success of lithium-ion batteries

Published by skeptic

Lithium-ion energy storage is one of the most promising technologies for the transition to clean energy. Springboarding straight from its success on the Sintbat project, the ECO2LIB consortium is upgrading its breakthroughs further. In 2019, the Sintbat project was declared a success, as the consortium created a cheap, low-maintenance lithium-ion energy system that targets a lifetime of 20 years. Towards the end of that same year, the consortium announced the ECO²LIB project. Designed to upgrade what they had already achieved in Sintbat, the project runs from 2020 to 2024 and was approved for funding from Horizon2020. The importance of energy storage Reducing costs is at the heart of the ECO²LIB project. The European Association for the Storage of Energy’s report estimates that by 2050, Europe alone will require 600GW of energy storage, and is currently running behind the deployment of sustainable energy producers. Furthermore, solar energy is an example of meteorologically dependent energy production, meaning that there are peak periods and low periods of production. As such, energy storage will be required to take on …

Revolutionary ‘water battery’ has almost double the energy capacity of lithium-ion cells

Revolutionary ‘water battery’ has almost double the energy capacity of lithium-ion cells

Published by skeptic

Aqueous batteries, with their non-flammable water-based electrolytes, offer a safer alternative to lithium-ion batteries. (CREDIT: Creative Commons) Aqueous batteries (also known as water batteries), long recognized for their safety due to water-based electrolytes, have struggled to compete with traditional lithium-ion batteries in terms of energy density. The Challenge: Safety vs. Energy Density Lithium-ion batteries power our portable electronics and are increasingly being explored for electric vehicles. However, their flammable organic electrolytes pose safety risks. Aqueous batteries, with their non-flammable water-based electrolytes, offer a safer alternative. But they come with a trade-off: lower energy density, meaning they store less energy per unit volume. The Innovation: Multi-Electron Transfer Cathode Prof. LI’s team addressed this limitation by developing a novel cathode material that utilizes a mixed-halogen solution (iodide and bromide ions) and undergoes a multi-electron transfer reaction. During charging, iodide ions (I-) are oxidized to iodate (IO3-) on the positive electrode, while generated hydrogen ions (H+) travel to the negative electrode. Discharging reverses the process, with IO3- being reduced back to I-. This multi-electron transfer plays a key …

Ultralow-concentration electrolyte developed for lithium-ion batteries

Ultralow-concentration electrolyte developed for lithium-ion batteries

Published by skeptic

Researchers from Ningbo University in China and the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras Campus in the US have developed an ultralow-concentration electrolyte that may be suitable for practical applications in lithium-ion batteries. Lithium salts make batteries powerful but more expensive. An ultralow-concentration electrolyte based on the lithium salt LiDFOB has the potential to provide a more economical and sustainable alternative. Cells using these electrolytes and conventional electrodes have been shown to have high performance. As well as this, the electrolyte could facilitate both production and recycling of the batteries. The work has been reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie. Most lithium-ion batteries have liquid electrolytes Lithium-ion batteries have many everyday uses, being used to power smartphones, electric vehicles, and for energy storage. Lithium-ion batteries consist of lithium cobalt oxide cathodes, graphite anodes, and liquid electrolytes that deliver mobile ions for the decoupled cathode and anode reactions. The electrolytes determine the properties of the interphase layer that forms on the electrodes, affecting battery cycling performance. Why have ultralow-concentration electrolytes been developed? Commercial electrolytes are mostly based …

Enhancing lithium-ion battery safety with gel electrolyte materials

Enhancing lithium-ion battery safety with gel electrolyte materials

Published by skeptic

Aston University has received a grant of nearly half a million pounds to improve lithium-ion battery safety. In a bid to address the pressing need for safer and eco-friendly energy storage solutions, Aston University has been awarded a significant grant of £443,058 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to optimise lithium-ion batteries via innovative gel electrolyte materials. Tackling lithium-ion battery safety concerns According to Aston University, the current assembly process of batteries often involves the use of flammable solvents, posing safety risks. Recognising these challenges, Aston University researchers, led by Dr Matt Derry, are poised to develop gel electrolyte materials that will not only replace harmful components but also prevent battery leakage. Dr Derry emphasised the urgency of identifying scalable methods for storing electrical energy. He stated: “There is a need to identify new solutions for sustainable energy storage, but one of the biggest barriers to the uptake of renewable energy is the lack of scalable methods of storing electrical energy. “We will create recyclable gel electrolytes using non-harmful, non-flammable and renewably sourced …

Could a new lithium-ion conductor pave the way for sustainable batteries?

Could a new lithium-ion conductor pave the way for sustainable batteries?

Published by skeptic

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have discovered a solid material that acts as a rapid lithium-ion conductor. Consisting of non-toxic earth-abundant elements, the new material has high enough lithium-ion conductivity to replace the liquid electrolytes in current Li-ion battery technology, improving safety and energy capacity. These lithium electrolytes are essential components in the rechargeable batteries that power electric vehicles and many electronic devices. The research, ‘Superionic lithium transport via multiple coordination environments defined by two-anion packing,’ was published in Science. The lithium-ion conductor could replace liquid electrolytes Using a transformative scientific approach to design the material, the team synthesised the material in the laboratory, determined its structure (the arrangement of the atoms in space) and demonstrated it in a battery cell. The new material is one of a very small number of solid materials that achieve lithium-ion conductivity high enough to replace liquid electrolytes and operate in a new way because of its structure. Its discovery was achieved through a collaborative computational and experimental workflow that used AI and physics-based calculations to support decisions …

Benefits of aluminium cell housing for cylindrical lithium-ion batteries

Benefits of aluminium cell housing for cylindrical lithium-ion batteries

Published by skeptic

Innovation in the battery industry is crucial to the large-scale rollout of electric vehicles, and the development of aluminium cylindrical cell housing is a prime example. Decarbonisation of transportation and industrial processes is one of the central challenges for humanity related to the 1.5°C target ratified in the Paris Agreement in 2015, which will require a massive increase of energy storage capacity. The vital role of lithium-ion battery (LIB) cells in future mobility concepts results in an anticipated demand in Europe of about 900 GWh/a in 2030. Customers desire fast-charging, long range and safe vehicles at low cost. Focusing on these preferences, LIB designers as well as automotive OEMs aim to bring down cost on the one hand and increase energy as well as power density and safety of LIBs on the other hand, while pushing charging rates towards conventional refuelling times. Targeting larger cell formats The battery industry is targeting larger cell formats, which enable simplified module design and cell-to-pack or even cell-to-chassis solutions. In this regard, hard case battery cells and in particular …

A lithium-ion battery fire in a cargo ship’s hold is out after several days of burning

A lithium-ion battery fire in a cargo ship’s hold is out after several days of burning

Published by skeptic

After lithium-ion batteries burned in a large cargo ship’s hold for a number of days, the US Coast Guard said late Saturday that the fire was out and directed the ship to anchor near Dutch Harbour, Alaska. The 19 crew members of the ship, Genius Star XI, were uninjured and technicians from the Salvage and Marine Firefighting team remain onboard to ensure the fire doesn’t return, according to a Coast Guard press release. “This protected anchorage … will allow the vessel to remain stable, minimising risk of any re-flash of the fire as we continue our response,” Capt. Chris Culpepper said in the statement, which said an investigation into the fire’s origins will begin once response efforts wrap up. This image provided by the US Coast Guard shows a reported fire aboard the cargo vessel Genius Star XI, southwest of Dutch Harbor, Alaska on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2023. The large cargo ship with a fire in its hold is being kept 2 miles (3.22 kilometers) offshore of an Alaska port as a precaution while efforts are undertaken …

Accure sparks .8M to use AI to predict lithium-ion battery failures

Accure sparks $7.8M to use AI to predict lithium-ion battery failures

Published by skeptic

Accure sparks $7.8M Series A2 to use AI to predict lithium-ion battery failures Battery fires are bad. Just ask LG, GM, Tesla, Volkswagen or any of the hundreds of people whose e-bikes have caught fire. While fires caused by EVs are a relative rarity compared with fossil fuel vehicles, that doesn’t mean they’re not dangerous. But there’s something that batteries have that fossil fuels don’t: the ability to monitor themselves. “Every lithium-ion battery is an IoT device,” Accure co-founder and CEO Kai-Philipp Kairies told TechCrunch+. “All of these batteries are generating heaps of data.” Batteries are going to be everywhere in the next couple decades, reshaping everything from cars and trucks to toys, home furnishings and more, all things that people interact with on a daily basis. The potential for fires could increase as adoption grows, but it doesn’t have to. All that data that batteries are generating gives us a window into how they’re operating. It also gives us a chance to predict when they’ll go haywire. Kairies and his co-founders started Accure with …