Battery Manufactory

Commercially available since the 1970s, the lithium-ion battery is now the workhorse power source in many applications. It can be found in cell phones, laptops and electric vehicles. Yet, much about the basic science taking place at the atomic and molecular levels during charge and discharge remains a mystery. In a new study published in Nature Catalysis, a team at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory reports a breakthrough in understanding the chemistry of the microscopically thin layer that forms at the interface between the liquid electrolyte and solid electrode. Battery researchers commonly refer to this layer as the "solid-electrolyte interphase" or SEI. Much scientific work over the last several decades has been devoted to understanding the SEI in the lithium-ion battery . Scientists know that the SEI forms on the graphite negative electrode, is extremely thin (less than a thousandth of a millimeter), and primarily...

Lithium-based batteries use more than 50 percent of all cobalt produced in the world. These batteries are in your cell phone, laptop and maybe even your car. About 50 percent of the world's cobalt comes from the Congo, where it's largely mined by hand, in some instances by children. But now, a research team led by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, has opened the door to using other metals in lithium-based batteries, and have built cathodes with 50 percent more lithium-storage capacity than conventional materials. "We've opened up a new chemical space for battery technology," said senior author Gerbrand Ceder, professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Berkeley. "For the first time we have a really cheap element that can do a lot of electron exchange in batteries." The study will be published in the April 12 edition of the journal Nature. The work was a collaboration between scientists at...

Researchers in China have developed a battery with organic compound electrodes that can function at -70 degrees Celsius -- far colder than the temperature at which lithium-ion batteries lose most of their ability to conduct and store energy. The findings could aid engineers in developing technology suited to withstand the coldest reaches of outer space or the most frigid regions on Earth.  While batteries can operate in relatively cold climates, they have their limits. Most perform at only 50% of their optimal level when the temperature hits -20 degrees Celsius, and by -40 degrees Celsius, lithium-ion batteries only have about 12% of their room temperature capacity. This can be severely limiting when it comes to operating batteries in space, where temperatures can dip to -157 degrees Celsius, or even in parts of Canada and Russia, where temperatures can be lower than -50 degrees Celsius. But a team of battery researchers have found a design that can functio...

A major byproduct in the papermaking industry is lignosulfonate, a sulfonated carbon waste material, which is typically combusted on site, releasing CO 2   into the atmosphere after sulfur has been captured for reuse. Now researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a method to use this cheap and abundant paper biomass to build a rechargeable lithium-sulfur battery. Such a battery could be used to power big data centers as well as provide a cheaper energy-storage option for microgrids and the traditional electric grid. "Our research demonstrates the potential of using industrial paper-mill byproducts to design sustainable, low-cost electrode   materials for lithium-sulfur batteries," said Trevor Simmons, a Rensselaer research scientist who developed the technology with his colleagues at the Center for Future Energy Systems (CFES). He has patented the process with former graduate student Rahul Mukherjee. Rechargeable lithium-ion batt...