Water is secret ingredient to making better batteries - lithium ion battery price
Water may be the key to producing cheaper, greener and less dangerous lithium
Researchers say ion batteries that power many everyday gadgets.
Currently, rechargeable lithium
Ion batteries are often found in mobile devices such as mobile phones, laptops and tablets, and are increasingly used in hybrid and electric vehicles.
As its use grows, scientists hope to make batteries in a cheaper and greener way.
"The application of lithium --
Ion batteries in electric vehicles are hampered by their high costs, "said Li Jianlin, a material scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who told TechNewsDaily.
"For example, the cost of lithium --
Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Corte's ion batteries are about $500 per kilowatt hour
Hours, almost five times the target cost.
$110 per kilowatthour —
Lithium from an electric car
The ion batteries set up by the President's electric vehicle are a huge challenge everywhere.
"At present, the cost of making lithium is more than 80% --
Ion batteries are caused by the processing of materials and these materials.
Scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee are now working to lower prices for these two factors.
All batteries generate electricity through the flow current between the two electrodes
Cathode with positive electricity and anode with negative electricity.
The cathode accounts for about 70% of the high cost.
Power cells and organic solvents used to manufacture the cathode of lithium ion batteries, N-
Methylpyrroypone or NMP is expensive and toxic and can produce flammable steam.
Making batteries with this solvent also requires expensive explosions.
Proof of processing equipment and expensive solvent recovery and recovery systems.
Researchers say they can replace the NMP with a water-using system that is safer, greener and at least 150 times cheaper than organic solvents.
Replacing the NMP with water is tricky because if water is used, the behavior of mud or liquids containing materials used to make battery electrodes can be very different.
Water, for example-
The base mud is usually not good at coating the materials of the collector, the collector and the electrode.
Li said: "While it seems simple to replace expensive and toxic NMP with water in battery manufacturing, it is very complex and requires extensive knowledge in science and engineering to achieve.
Scientists have adopted many different methods to make water work.
For example, treating a current collector with a live plasma changes its surface in a way that makes water
Better based on mud coating.
Additives in the slurry also help to prevent particles from gathering together.
Previous work could help scientists make lithium.
Ion battery anode using water.
Until now, however, "No one has succeeded in either the anode or the cathode," Li said.
Using this method, the researchers created a battery that performs the same performance as a conventional battery.
Replacing NMP with water is expected to reduce the overall cost of lithium ion batteries by about 1-
"The whole process is greener," said Li.
"This makes battery manufacturing more sustainable and economical.
"Scientists are currently applying for their technology patents.
They detail their latest findings in May 25 in the Journal of colloidal and Interface Science.