MILAN – We are all very focused on the autonomy of electric car batteries, but how long do they last? On average, a battery supports between 1,000 and 1,500 charging cycles and to ensure optimal duration it must maintain a capacity above 70%. Therefore, taking into consideration the typology factor of which it is composed and an average autonomy of 300 km for each charge, it is possible to make an estimate and write that a battery has a life of between 300,000 and 450,000 km.
This premise is to introduce and better understand the study and development of the solid-state lithium metal battery, which is being worked on by a group of American engineers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, in Massachusetts, led by Professor There.
How the solid-state lithium metal battery is made and how it works
The first and captivating news is that charging the solid-state lithium metal battery only takes ten minutes; the second is that it can reach and exceed 6,000 charge cycles, without significant losses in capacity.
This type of battery has numerous advantages, it has a specific material capacity of 3,860 mAh/g and has a low redox potential.
In particular, the research carried out focuses on a lithium metal battery with a solid rather than liquid electrolyte, to which micro silicon particles have been added in the anode to prevent debris, to restrict the lithiation reaction and facilitate the process. of homogeneous plating.
Precisely when the lithium ions reach the anode, they stick to the surface of the silicon particle without entering, which is impossible with a liquid electrolyte.
Through this study it was possible to create a homogeneous surface, in which the current density is evenly distributed and prevents the growth of debris, resulting in the reduction of charging time in ten minutes.
Not only that, the researchers developed a pouch version 10-20 times larger than the button cells produced and verified, through numerous tests, that the battery maintained 80% of its capacity, after 6,000 charge cycles/ discharges, thus surpassing other pouch accumulators on the market.
Finally, Professor And they could dramatically increase the range of electric vehicles. Our research represents an important step towards more practical solid-state batteries for industrial and commercial applications.”