Solid State Li Ion Battery

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Engineers at Harvard have developed a solid-state lithium-ion battery that charges up fast and charges and discharges many times without degrading much. In an EV such a battery should charge in 10 to 20 minutes and last for the lifetime of the vehicle.

Right now the laboratory prototype is the size of a coin. In an EV it would have to be about the size of a rather thick textbook.

Scaling up to EVs is not a trivial problemthere are many engineering aspects well have to figure out later, Xin Li, associate professor of material, tells IEEE Spectrum. Li and his colleagues at Harvards John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science described their work in Nature.

Even so, Li says, there has already been a good deal of interest in commercializing the technology. He wouldnt name companies, but he did indicate that the interested parties were in the automotive sector.

Like most solid-state designs, the cells use a ceramic electrolyte instead of the organic liquids seen in todays Li-ion batteries. This step greatly reduces the risk of fire.

Because of this blocking maneuver dendrites never get big enough to cause a short circuit, to vacuum up much lithium or to disrupt the ceramic electrolyte. The battery thus retains its integrity even after extended use.

Better Range With Solid State

To increase vehicle range, the car must be able to store more energy. In a gas car, thatâs a bigger tank, while in an EV, that means a higher battery capacity. One solution is to increase the size of the battery , but this can add a considerable amount of weight. Instead, manufacturers may decide to use different sorts of batteries that are able to store more energy in the same amount of weight. The technical term for this is energy density and it is measured in energy per pound or kilogram. For instance, cobalt based batteries are slightly more energy dense than lithium iron phosphate batteries , but cobalt can be hard to source.

Solid state batteries are expected to have about double the energy density of common Li-ion batteries used in EVs today. Sources: , QuantumScape, Solid Power

Another alternative is known as the lithium-metal battery, which uses solid lithium as the anode, instead of graphite. This battery can store more energy, and thus deliver more range, because more lithium ions are available.

However, lithium metal batteries can have significant safety concerns if they are used in liquid-electrolyte batteries. Branching structures, or dendrites, can grow over time on the anode and eventually make contact with the cathode, leading to a short-circuit. When batteries short-circuit, they release a lot of energy at once, which can cause a fire.

The Structure Of A Solid

However, the internal structure of a solid-state cell is very different, as all its parts are solid. While in traditional lithium batteries, the electrolyte is a liquid, solid-state cells are formed of:

• A cathode , which can be made with the same compounds as a lithium-ion battery
• A , generally ceramic or solid polymer, which also works as the electrolyte
• An anode made of lithium metal

The grey central layer is the solid-state separator which, on its own, acts both as the separator between the anode and cathode and as the electrolyte. It therefore becomes the medium through which the ions move and also has electric insulating properties and as a mechanical separator between the anode and cathode. The fact that there is this solid, resistant support allows the removal of the graphite structure on the anode part and ensures that lithium metal accumulates directly on the anode .

How does a solid-state battery work?

When the cell is charging, the lithium particles move from the cathode, through the structure of the atoms that form the separator, and then move in between the separator itself and the anodes electrical contact, thus forming a solid layer of pure lithium. In this way, the anode will only be formed of lithium particles and will have a smaller volume than a lithium-ion technology anode, which contains the graphite structure.

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The Structure Of A Lithium

The following picture shows the structure of an actual lithium-ion cell, the technology that is now used in the vast majority of electric vehicles in circulation. What are we looking at?

Every lithium-ion cell has:

• Two electrodes, i.e. compounds that can accept the intercalation of lithium ions inside their structure. More specifically, we are talking about:
• A cathode, i.e. the positive pole of the battery made of cathodic material and the current collector
• An anode, i.e. the negative pole of the battery made of anodic material and the current collector

In a current lithium-ion battery, the does not have any other functions apart from insulation and is totally submerged in the liquid electrolyte which soaks everything inside the cell and becomes a real medium through which lithium ions move between the cathode and anode, where the anode is made from a graphite structure. The lithium ions therefore move through the electrolyte and intercalate in the crystal structures of the two anode and cathode electrodes .

What Is A Solid

Solid-state batteries have been taken into consideration as a vital resource of power for a wide variety of applications for an extended period of time, and also, in particular, lithium-ion batteries are coming out as the modern technology of selection for portable electronic devices

As technology innovation into the new era, researcher teams and competitive companies operating in the automotive and transportation industries experienced revitalized interest in solid-state battery technologies. Solid-state batteries usages are an arising option for next-generation traction batteries promising low cost, high performance, and also high safety

Each and every solid-state battery have the possibility to turn out to be high energy density and safe substitutes for the frequently used liquid electrolyte Lead Acid or Li-ion types Li-ion types batteries. This taken into consideration strong electrolytes are not combustible in contrast to the fluids, therefore, getting rid of the protection dangers due to e.g., battery fires. Some solid electrolytes are electrochemically secure versus lithium metal, opening up the possibility to change graphitic intercalation anodes with lithium anodes, which would certainly raise energy thickness.

Since marketed in 1991, lithium-ion batteries have received an all-around world success. Nonetheless, this can not secrete their innate restrictions in terms of safety, performance, type element as well as expenses.

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But What Will Be The Main Fields Of Application Of Solid

As we have seen, solid-state batteries of the near future will potentially be able to provide huge advantages that will increase the performance and efficiency of vehicles and will revolutionise the electrification sector of the automotive industry. But the arrival of solid-state technology onto the market already seemed imminent a few years ago and instead the breakthrough has still not happened. How come?

Just as there are many advantages, there are also certain limits due to how young this technologyis, as it is still not ready and constantly evolving. This is why we can call these limits real challenges to be addressed and major new goals to be achieved. Lets find out together.

Scientists Discover Promising New Electrolyte For Solid

New battery material offers promise for the development of all-solid batteries.

In the quest for the perfect battery, scientists have two primary goals: create a device that can store a great deal of energy and do it safely. Many batteries contain liquid electrolytes, which are potentially flammable.

As a result, solid-state lithium-ion batteries, which consist of entirely solid components, have become increasingly attractive to scientists because they offer an enticing combination of higher safety and increased energy density which is how much energy the battery can store for a given volume.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo, Canada, who are members of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research , headquartered at the U.S. Department of Energys Argonne National Laboratory, have discovered a new solid electrolyte that offers several important advantages.

This electrolyte, composed of lithium, scandium, indium, and chlorine, conducts lithium ions well but electrons poorly. This combination is essential to creating an all-solid-state battery that functions without significantly losing capacity for over a hundred cycles at high voltage and thousands of cycles at intermediate voltage. The chloride nature of the electrolyte is key to its stability at operating conditions above 4 volts meaning it is suitable for typical cathode materials that form the mainstay of todays lithium-ion cells.

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Flexible Solid Electrolytes For All

Garnet-type solid electrolytes are attracting great interest due to high ionic conductivity and excellent electrochemical stability against Li metal. However, the thick electrolyte layer and rigid nature as well as poor interfacial contact are huge obstacles for its application in all-solid-state lithium batteries. Currently, researchers in China provide a promising strategy toward realizing 20 m-thick flexible Li6.4La3Zr1.4Ta0.6O12-based solid electrolyte for high-performance all-solid-state lithium batteries.

They published their work on July 4 in Energy Material Advances.

“The development of high-energy-density and safe all-solid-state lithium batteries employing solid electrolytes is imperative,” said author Xiayin Yao, professor with the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences . “The cell-level energy density of all-solid-state lithium batteries highly depends on the thickness of solid electrolytes and inorganic solid electrolyte thin film generally show thick and rigid nature.”

Yao explained that polymer-in-ceramic garnet-based electrolytes can substantially overcome the above-mentioned challenges of garnet-type ceramic electrolytes.

More information:Qingya Guo et al, 20 m-Thick Li6.4La3Zr1.4Ta0.6O12-Based Flexible Solid Electrolytes for All-Solid-State Lithium Batteries, Energy Material Advances . DOI: 10.34133/2022/9753506

Provided byBeijing Institute of Technology Press

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• All-Solid-State Lithium Ion Battery Operates at 150 Degrees C

Hitachi, Ltd. and Tohoku University’s Advanced Institute for Material Research have developed a basic technology to reduce the internal resistance of the all-solid-state lithium ion battery using a complex hydride as a solid electrolyte. The reduction of internal resistance improves the charge-discharge performance of the all-solid-state Li-ion battery, resulting in the batteries successfully operating at temperatures as high as 150 degrees C with a discharge capacity of 90% of theoretical value.

This technology is significant as it allows the thermally durable Li-ion battery to be used in a wider variety of applications, such as large-scale industrial machines with motors, and medical machines which need to be heated for autoclave sterilization. Since this technology does not require the cooling system common in conventional Li-ion batteries. It is expected to lead to further developments compact battery systems and reduce the overall costs.

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Can Withstand Low To High Temperatures

Since the electrolytes in lithium-ion batteries are made of flammable organic solvents , there is concern about their use in high-temperature environments. On the other hand, since the electrolytes in solid-state batteries are not made of flammable materials, they can be used at higher temperatures.

Further, in the case of liquids, the movement of ions slows at low temperatures, causing battery performance to drop, and the voltage may decrease. In the case of solids, the internal resistance does not increase so much and battery performance does not drop much because the solid does not freeze like a liquid even at low temperatures.

Other Uses For Solid State Batteries

While solid-state batteries are gaining support in the EV space, they are proving to be even more vital for electric aviation, where weight matters a lot more. Since solid-state batteries can offer greater energy density, they can reduce weight. NASAâs solid-state research program, called Solid-state Architecture Batteries for Enhanced Rechargeability and Safety has reported a 30-40% reduction in battery weight with the solid-state batteries, which is gaining a lot of attention. Unfortunately, this market does not seem to be growing as rapidly.

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Challenge Of The Manufacturing Process

Since the electrolyte will be changed from liquid to solid, a manufacturing process different from lithium-ion batteries is needed. For example, solid-state batteries can be based on oxides, sulfides, nitrides, etc., depending on the material. The solid electrolytes used in solid-state batteries based on sulfides, which is one of the mainstream types, are so sensitive to moisture that they degenerate even when exposed to moisture in the air. Therefore, the production of solid-state batteries, which require strict moisture control, will need dedicated facilities such as dry rooms.

As mentioned above, various companies are currently making efforts to commercialize solid-state batteries, which are expected to further enhance the performance of lithium-ion batteries. On the other hand, lithium-ion batteries are actively used in a wide range of fields. Part 5 explores how lithium-ion batteries will play a role in realizing a sustainable society.

What Are The Applications Of Solid

One of the expected applications for solid-state batteries is electric vehicles. Currently, electric vehicles use lithium-ion batteries. But if they used solid-state batteries, the risk of ignition due to accidents is expected to decrease since they do not contain flammable organic solvents. In addition, whereas todays electric vehicles take longer to charge than refueling with gasoline, with solid-state batteries it will be possible to charge them more quickly.

In addition, one of the reasons why the practical application of solid-state batteries is being actively pursued is that they can compensate for lithium-ion batteries weak point of being vulnerable to high temperatures. Since they could be soldered directly to an electronic substrate by taking advantage of their heat-resistant characteristic, it is also anticipated that their uses will include electronic device backup power supplies and IoT sensors. If used in PCs or smartphones, they should enable powerful operation for a longer time.

Furthermore, since solid-state batteries can achieve a larger capacity and higher output than lithium-ion batteries, they can be expected to be used in airplanes and ships. And since they are resistant to temperature changes across the spectrum from high to low temperature, it can be expected that their applications will expand to include devices used in outer space.

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Desalination Redox Flow Batteries

The concept of desalination batteries with solid-state battery electrode materials was first proposed in 2011 : here, inorganic materials were fixed on the current collectors as the positive and negative electrodes. Rocking chair desalination batteries are mainly used as energy storage devices being salt removal performed on static few hundreds of microliters of electrolytes. Recently, the dual-ion faradaic electrochemical deionized system was demonstrated : Na+ ions and Cl ions were electrochemically captured by two fixed solid battery electrode materials during desalination. Many research studies have focused on solid electrode materials . The desalination redox flow battery concept was proved to work with metal-based electrolytes in 2018 .

Table 6.20. Comparison of solid electrode-based desalination batteries and RFB desalination

Adapted from Debruler C, Wu W, Cox K, Vanness B, Liu TL. Integrated saltwater desalination and energy storage through a pH neutral aqueous organic redox flow battery. Adv Funct Mater 2020 30: 2000385. Supporting Information.

Desai et al. demonstrated a zinc/ferricyanide DRFB operating at a high nominal cell potential . The cell architecture is shown in Fig. 6.86.

Fig. 6.86. Schematic of the DRFB proposed by Desai et al. : discharge and charge .

The energy consumption is as low as 10.27 kJ mol 1 salt without energy recovery and decreases to 5.38 kJ mol 1 salt with energy recovery.

How Do Actually Solid

Much the same means as a normal battery, the flow of ions set off a chain reaction in between the batterys products called Redox where, when releasing power, oxidation occurs at the anode to create substances with cost-free electrons, which supply electrical power, as well as a decrease at the cathode which sees substances obtain electrons and also hence store energy. When a battery is charged, the process is turned around.

Similar to lithium-ion batteries, when providing power in solid-state batteries, also known as discharging, favorably charged ions take a trip through the electrolyte from the anode to the cathode . This results in the development of positive charge in the cathode which brings in electrons from the anode. Yet as the electrons cant travel through the electrolyte, they need to take a trip throughout a circuit as well as hence deliver power to whatever its linked to, claim an electrical motor

During the battery charging period, the contrary occurs with ions moving to the anode, developing a charge that sees electrons drew to it throughout a circuit from the cathode. When saying goodbye to ions that will stream to the adverse electrode, the battery is considered totally charged.

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Whats Better About Solid

Solid-state batteries guarantee a few individual benefits over many of the liquid-filled batteries in terms of considerable longer battery lifetime, as well as a safer experience.

Solid-state batteries press the anode, cathode, and electrolyte into three flat layers instead of suspending the electrodes in a fluid electrolyte. That indicates one can make them smaller sized or a minimum of, flatter while holding as much energy as a bigger liquid-based battery. So, individuals changed the lithium-ion or lithium-polymer battery in a phone or laptop computer with a solid-state battery to the exact same dimension. It would get a lot longer fee. Additionally, you can make a gadget that holds the same actual fee, much smaller or thinner sizes.

Solid-state batteries are additionally safer, given that theres no toxic, combustible fluid to spill, as well as they dont output as much heat as conventional rechargeable batteries. When related to batteries that power current electronic devices or perhaps electric vehicles, they may recharge much faster, as well ions might move far more rapidly from the cathode to the anode.

According to the current study, a solid-state battery could exceed standard rechargeable batteries by 500% or even more in terms of ability, as well as charge up in a tenth of the time.