Batteries & Energy Storage news and discussions

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Engineers Develop Stretchy Lithium-Ion Battery
The mostly transparent battery can reportedly stretch to 5,000% of its original length and withstand at least 67 charge cycles.
By Adrianna Nine July 18, 2024

When it comes to soft robots and flexible wearables, one key component is holding them back: the battery. While semiconductors, circuit boards, and the materials they sit on can be made malleable, batteries tend to be rigid, forcing their respective devices to contain a stiff component.

Researchers in China have developed a lithium-ion battery to solve that problem. Their stretchy, mostly transparent battery can reportedly be manipulated to 5,000% of its original length, making it suitable for devices in which flexibility is a must. The researchers say the battery also maintains its ability to hold a full charge after 67 cycles.

https://www.extremetech.com/science/eng ... on-battery

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Twisted carbon nanotubes could achieve significantly better energy storage than advanced lithium-ion batteries
https://phys.org/news/2024-07-carbon-na ... orage.html
by University of Maryland Baltimore County

An international team of scientists, including two researchers who now work in the Center for Advanced Sensor Technology (CAST) at UMBC, has shown that twisted carbon nanotubes can store three times more energy per unit mass than advanced lithium-ion batteries. The finding may advance carbon nanotubes as a promising solution for storing energy in devices that need to be lightweight, compact, and safe, such as medical implants and sensors. The research was published recently in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Sanjeev Kumar Ujjain, from CAST, was a lead researcher on the work. He started the project while at Shinshu University, in Nagano, Japan, and continued after arriving at UMBC in 2022. Preety Ahuja, from CAST, also contributed to the material characterization aspects of the research.

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Microwave technique recovers 87% of batteries' lithium in 15 minutes
By Michael Franco
July 30, 2024

Lithium is a finite resource, and the more we lock inside rechargeable batteries, the less we have to use. A new speedy method to free the element from such sources could be a game changer in terms of the material's availability.

Thanks to our modern day way of purchasing rechargeable everything – including cars – the demand for the lithium-ion batteries that power much of our consumer technology has been skyrocketing. Currently valued at approximately $65 billion, the market for lithium-ion batteries is expected to grow by 23% in the next eight years.

As a relatively lightweight material with the ability to store a lot of energy, the value of lithium is clear. But mining the element can be environmentally destructive, and geopolitical concerns in several of the areas where it is plentiful can threaten supply chains. Plus we've previously reported that there are predictions that current lithium mines will only be able to produce half of what's needed to satisfy demand by 2030.

https://newatlas.com/energy/microwave-l ... recycling/

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New SuperSonic Charge Tech Can Completely Fill a Phone Battery in Under 5 Minutes
It has a maximum speed of 320 watts, leaving all other smartphones in the dust.
By Ryan Whitwam August 16, 2024

A dead smartphone battery used to be a big problem, but things have changed with the availability of fast-charging technologies. Most high-end phones today can guzzle a couple dozen watts of power, but Realme doesn't think that's enough. The Chinese smartphone maker has demoed the fastest charging ever seen on a smartphone, known as SuperSonic Charge. It has a maximum speed of 320 watts, leaving all other smartphones in the dust.

https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/new- ... y-in-under

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‘A game changer’: How giant batteries are making California’s power grid stronger, and reducing the risk of blackouts during heat waves

August 19, 2024

Four years ago this week, California’s power grid was so strained by a heat wave that rolling blackouts hit hundreds of thousands of residents over two days. It nearly happened again two years ago, when state officials issued 11 “flex alerts” asking businesses and homeowners to voluntarily reduce electricity use to avoid power disruptions.

But this year when a record heat wave scorched the state over three weeks from mid-June to July — sending temperatures across the Bay Area and the Central Valley soaring over 110 degrees — there was plenty of power. No warnings. No shortages. No flex alerts.

A big part of the reason, experts say, is a boom in the construction of giant battery projects.

California’s high-tech battery centers built with thousands of lithium-ion batteries similar to the batteries in cell phones and electric cars are solving the main shortcoming of the push for more renewable energy: the fact that the sun doesn’t shine at night.

Battery storage has increased sevenfold in the past five years in California, from 1,474 megawatts in 2020 to 10,383 megawatts now. A megawatt is enough electricity to run 750 homes.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/08/18/ ... eat-waves/

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3D-printed decoupled structural lithium-ion batteries that are stable, robust and customizable
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-08-3d- ... eries.html
by Ingrid Fadelli , Tech Xplore

The widespread adoption of electric vehicles greatly relies on the development of robust and fast-charging battery technologies that can support their continuous operation for long periods of time. One proposed energy storage solution to improve the endurance of electric vehicles entails the use of so-called structural batteries.

Structural batteries are batteries that can serve two purposes, acting both as structural components of vehicles and energy storage solutions. Instead of being external components that are added to an electronic or electric device, these batteries are thus directly embedded into the structure.

Researchers at Shanghai University and their collaborators recently devised a promising strategy to fabricate highly performing structural batteries with customizable geometric configurations. Their strategy, outlined in a paper published in Composites Science and Technology, enables the 3D-printing of structural lithium-ion batteries for different geometrical configurations.

"This study aims to design an integrated energy storage and load-bearing structure with high load-bearing capacity and high energy storage," Yinhua Bao, corresponding author of the paper, told Tech Xplore.

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Study of disordered rock salts leads to battery breakthrough
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-08-dis ... rough.html

For the past decade, disordered rock salt has been studied as a potential breakthrough cathode material for use in lithium-ion batteries and a key to creating low-cost, high-energy storage for everything from cell phones to electric vehicles to renewable energy storage.

A new MIT study is making sure the material fulfills that promise.

Led by Ju Li, the Tokyo Electric Power Company Professor in Nuclear Engineering and professor of materials science and engineering, a team of researchers describe a new class of partially disordered rock salt cathode, integrated with polyanions—dubbed disordered rock salt-polyanionic spinel, or DRXPS—that delivers high energy density at high voltages with significantly improved cycling stability.

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LiMnO₂ electrodes could replace Ni/Co in electric vehicle batteries
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-08-lim ... hicle.html
by Yokohama National University

Nanostructured LiMnO2 with domain structures and larger surface area delivers large reversible capacity with good capacity retention with excellent charge rate-capability, which is an essential character for electric vehicle applications. Credit: Yokohama National University

Lithium-ion (or Li-ion) batteries are heavy hitters when it comes to the world of rechargeable batteries. As electric vehicles become more common in the world, a high-energy, low-cost battery utilizing the abundance of manganese (Mn) can be a sustainable option to become commercially available and utilized in the automobile industry.

Currently, batteries used for powering electric vehicles (EVs) are nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co)-based, which can be expensive and unsustainable for a society with a growing desire for EVs.

By switching the positive electrode materials to a lithium/manganese-based material, researchers aim to maintain the high performance of Ni/Co-based materials but with a low-cost, sustainable twist.

Researchers published their results in ACS Central Science on 26 Aug. 2024.

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Chemists create gel to prevent leaks and boost lithium-ion battery life
https://phys.org/news/2024-09-chemists- ... thium.html
by Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg

A new type of gel, developed by chemists at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), could help to make lithium-ion batteries safer and more powerful. The gel is designed to prevent the highly flammable electrolyte fluid from leaking.

Initial lab studies show that it also improves the performance and service life of the batteries. The researchers have published their work in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

Lithium-ion batteries are real powerhouses. "They charge faster than conventional rechargeable batteries and can therefore be used in almost all areas of life," says Professor Wolfgang Binder, head of the Macromolecular Chemistry Research Group at MLU.

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'Massless' battery promises a 70% increase in EV range
By Abhimanyu Ghoshal
September 11, 2024

https://newatlas.com/technology/carbon- ... -ev-range/

Researchers say they've built and tested a 'structural battery' that packs a device or EV's chassis with energy, saving a ton of weight. It could unlock smartphones as thin as credit cards, laptops at half the weight and a 70% boost to EV range.

EVs rely heavily – pun intended – on large lithium-ion batteries to cover long distances. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology wondered if they could build a battery that doubles as the load-bearing material holding the car together, and shed some weight.

As part of their work on what they call 'massless energy storage,' the research team in Sweden has developed a battery made of a carbon fiber composite. It promises similar stiffness to aluminum, while also being capable of storing a fair bit of energy – enough to be used commercially.
The carbon fiber-based battery promises to store energy, and support loads just like aluminum

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'Massless' battery promises a 70% increase in EV range
By Abhimanyu Ghoshal
September 11, 2024

https://newatlas.com/technology/carbon- ... -ev-range/

Researchers say they've built and tested a 'structural battery' that packs a device or EV's chassis with energy, saving a ton of weight. It could unlock smartphones as thin as credit cards, laptops at half the weight and a 70% boost to EV range.

EVs rely heavily – pun intended – on large lithium-ion batteries to cover long distances. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology wondered if they could build a battery that doubles as the load-bearing material holding the car together, and shed some weight.

As part of their work on what they call 'massless energy storage,' the research team in Sweden has developed a battery made of a carbon fiber composite. It promises similar stiffness to aluminum, while also being capable of storing a fair bit of energy – enough to be used commercially.
The carbon fiber-based battery promises to store energy, and support loads just like aluminum

Tesla is already doing this to an extent.

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New battery cathode material could revolutionize EV market and energy storage
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-09-bat ... ze-ev.html
by Georgia Institute of Technology

A multi-institutional research team led by Georgia Tech's Hailong Chen has developed a new, low-cost cathode that could radically improve lithium-ion batteries (LIBs)—potentially transforming the electric vehicle (EV) market and large-scale energy storage systems.

"For a long time, people have been looking for a lower-cost, more sustainable alternative to existing cathode materials. I think we've got one," said Chen, an associate professor with appointments in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Materials Science and Engineering.

The revolutionary material, iron chloride (FeCl3), costs a mere 1%–2% of typical cathode materials and can store the same amount of electricity. Cathode materials affect capacity, energy, and efficiency, playing a major role in a battery's performance, lifespan, and affordability.

"Our cathode can be a game-changer," said Chen, whose team describes its work in Nature Sustainability. "It would greatly improve the EV market—and the whole lithium-ion battery market."

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Cheap, powerful, high-density EV battery cells set for mass production
By Loz Blain
September 29, 2024

Panasonic has announced it's ready to begin mass production on its long-awaited 4680 lithium-ion battery cells, specifically designed to boost range, power, charging and efficiency in electric vehicles, while also reducing cost.

Conventional EV packs are typically built around stacks of 2170 cells – 21 mm in diameter, 70 mm in length (0.83 x 2.8 inches). The 4680 cells, as the name suggests, are much fatter and a tad longer at 46 x 80 mm (1.8 x 3.1 inches).

So what's the big deal here? Well, these fatter 4680 cells pack in five times as much energy as their smaller cousins. That doesn't mean you can expect a 500% range boost when you stick them in an EV, but at the system level they do require less supporting material, so they're both lighter and more compact for a given energy capacity.

https://newatlas.com/automotive/panason ... y-factory/

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New design overcomes key barrier to safer, more efficient EV batteries
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-10-key ... nt-ev.html
by Claire Loewen, McGill University

Researchers at McGill University have made a significant advance in the development of all-solid-state lithium batteries, which are being pursued as the next step in electric vehicle (EV) battery technology.

By addressing a long-standing issue with battery performance, this innovation could pave the way for safer, longer-lasting EVs. The findings are published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science.

The challenge lies in the resistance that occurs where the ceramic electrolyte meets the electrodes. This makes the battery less efficient and reduces how much energy it can deliver. The research team has discovered that creating a porous ceramic membrane, instead of the traditional dense plate, and filling it with a small amount of polymer can resolve this issue.

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Electric vehicle battery prices are expected to fall almost 50% by 2026

October 7, 2024

Technology advances that have allowed electric vehicle battery makers to increase energy density, combined with a drop in green metal prices, will push battery prices lower than previously expected, according to Goldman Sachs Research.

Global average battery prices declined from $153 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in 2022 to $149 in 2023, and they’re projected by Goldman Sachs Research to fall to $111 by the close of this year. Our researchers forecast that average battery prices could fall towards $80/kWh by 2026, amounting to a drop of almost 50% from 2023, a level at which battery electric vehicles would achieve ownership cost parity with gasoline-fueled cars in the US on an unsubsidized basis.

https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/a ... nt-by-2025