a battery that could change the world - lithium ion cell
Last week, I stumbled across a documentary about NOVA, looking for a super battery.
I am very interested in this topic because developing better and cheaper batteries is crucial for the future of electric vehicles (EVs)
And the future development of power grid.
In order to increase the range of electric vehicles, batteries need to be improved, and cheaper batteries can help reduce the cost of electric vehicles so that more consumers can afford it.
For the grid, due to the intermittent nature of renewable energy, the increase in its penetration rate poses some challenges.
Because the wind can stop blowing at any time and the sun's radiation can only be captured during the day, these power supplies need to be backed up. Cost-
The efficient storage of electricity can allow renewable energy to penetrate into the grid basically without restriction.
Therefore, great efforts have been made in battery development in recent years.
The effort is paying off, ToPV magazine said, with battery prices down 2012 between 70 percent and 2017.
However, costs need to continue to fall in order to make widespread use of utilities
Scale battery storage becomes a reality. Lithium-
Ion batteries have become the first choice for many consumer electronics such as laptops and electric vehicles produced by Tesla.
But there are several problems with these types of batteries that need to be addressed.
For reasons explained in the documentary, the use of lithium
Compared with the traditional lithium, the metal electrode makes the energy density moreion batteries. But lithium-
Can develop the metal electrode of the finger
Like a branch-like structure that ends up getting shorter.
The Circuit of the battery.
The solution to this problem is to replace the lithium-
A metal electrode with a lattice structure containing lithium ions.
So lithium
The ion battery was born, although its energy storage capacity is lower than the battery with solid lithiumMetal electrodes. Lithium-
There is another drawback to the ion battery, which is the subject of many news articles.
If these batteries are damaged, they will explode or catch fire.
This has happened with laptops, mobile phones and electric cars.
If damaged, all the energy stored inside the battery can be released in a short period of time, and the result may be a fierce fire.
Enter the battery that can change the world.
It not only solves the energy density problem, but also solves the fire danger when the battery is damaged.
The NOVA documentary describes the work of Professor Mike Zimmerman from the University of taffz.
Professor Zimmerman developed a battery that replaces the liquid electrolyte in the battery with a flame
Flame retardant plastic.
If the battery is cut, pierced or crushed, it will not catch fire.
In fact, it can continue to generate electricity despite significant damage.
The lithium ion produced by the lithium electrode passes through the plastic as quickly as the liquid electrolyte.
Plastic also physically prevents the electrode from forming a branch crystal that can short-circuit the battery.
Lithium metal can be used in the negative electrode, which may double the energy density of the battery.
Professor Zimmerman's work was mainly done in secret operations.
NOVA special is reportedly his first television interview with his work.
He set up a company, ion materials, which recently raised $65 million to commercialize this solid materialstate battery. (
Jump to 30: 40 in the video and see Professor Zimmerman's work).
There was no mention in the interview of any deficiencies in the battery, nor of any potential challenges to commercialize the battery.
So, I contacted the ion materials company and asked some of my own questions, but I didn't get a response from the company until the article was published.
But if the battery is running the way it is advertised, it can greatly help push forward towards greener power production and the popularity of electric vehicles.