What Are the Current Emerging Lithium Battery Technologies?
With the widespread application of lithium-ion batteries in electronic devices, electric vehicles, and other fields, an increasing number of people are becoming concerned about their safety. The safety issues of lithium-ion batteries are also gaining more attention in the new energy sector.
Lithium-ion batteries contain liquid electrolytes and carry inherent safety risks. According to information gathered, under normal usage conditions, lithium-ion batteries do not spontaneously exhibit safety issues like ignition, explosion, or leakage. However, under certain extreme conditions, such as a sudden temperature rise to above 120°C, the possibility of ignition or explosion could arise.
Current emerging lithium battery technologies
However, in order to manufacture more flawless and safer lithium-ion batteries, scientists are not only continuously developing batteries with larger capacities, but also considering replacing the liquid electrolytes in batteries with solid electrolytes. This is because solid electrolytes not only offer higher energy density, but they are also safer, with their most attractive feature being non-flammability.
Recently, a group of researchers from the University of Waterloo in Canada has developed a new type of solid electrolyte with several significant advantages. Composed of lithium, indium, and chlorine, this electrolyte exhibits excellent lithium ion conductivity.
Current iterations of solid-state electrolytes are mainly focused on sulfides, which will oxidize and degrade above 2.5 volts. As a result, they require the addition of insulating coatings around cathode materials at working voltages above 4 volts. This weakens the ability of electrons and lithium ions to move from the electrolyte to the cathode.
Chloride electrolytes, on the other hand, only oxidize under high pressure, which makes them increasingly attractive for use in typical cathode materials that form the backbone of today’s lithium-ion batteries. There have been numerous research reports in the past regarding the use of chlorides for designing electrolytes. What sets this study apart is that they replaced half of the indium. This electrolyte composed of lithium, rubidium, indium, and chloride exhibits excellent lithium ion conductivity while having poor electronic conductivity. This is crucial because high-performance all-solid-state lithium batteries require high ion conductivity – ion distribution and low electronic conductivity.
Think of it as building a wall between the cathode material and the solid electrolyte, a wall that prevents electrons from easily passing through the electrolyte to prevent decomposition under high pressure, but lithium ions can pass through smoothly. The researchers say it helps establish a clean interface between the cathode material and the solid electrolyte. This is a fact that largely contributes to the stable performance of the active material in the cathode even under high dosages.
The electrolyte combination they developed is crucial for creating a robust all-solid-state cell! Test results demonstrate that this battery retains its capacity significantly even after over a hundred cycles under high voltage (up to around 4 volts) and thousands of cycles under intermediate voltages. At room temperature, it exhibits a long lifespan of over 3,000 cycles with an 80% capacity retention. Furthermore, high cathode loads also show a stable capacity retention of up to 190 mAh/g.
Currently, this research achievement has been published in the prestigious academic journal “Nature Energy.”
However, the technology of lithium batteries with liquid electrolytes is currently more mature, and their applications are more extensive. The lithium batteries produced by DLN Energy are of the type with liquid electrolytes, and they have established a solid foundation in this production field over the years. Therefore, we welcome you to inquire about pricing or become a DLN 18650 battery distributor.
