ROME – Long life, fast charging and low costs are considered essential elements for the mass expansion of electric vehicles. To date, however, despite the continuous technological advances of the various manufacturers, the current lithium-ion batteries are not able to meet the required characteristics as they are still too heavy, expensive and with too long charging times.
A problem that Xin Li, an associate professor at Harvard University’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science who, together with his team, has designed a stable, stable lithium-metal solid-state battery is trying to answer. to be charged and discharged at least 10,000 times, many more cycles than previously demonstrated, as well as being at high current density. Thanks to its high current density, the new battery could pave the way for electric vehicles that can fully charge within 10-20 minutes (the research results were published in the journal “Nature”). “Our research shows that solid-state batteries could be fundamentally different from commercial liquid-electrolyte lithium-ion batteries,” Professor Li explained. “By studying their fundamental thermodynamics, we can unlock superior performance and exploit their enormous opportunities.”
The big challenge with lithium-metal batteries has always been chemistry: lithium batteries move lithium ions from the cathode to the anode during charging, and when the anode is made of lithium metal, needle-like structures form on the surface. called dendrites. These structures grow as roots in the electrolyte and pass through the barrier separating the anode and cathode, causing the battery to short out or even a fire. To overcome this limit, the research staff designed a multilayer battery that integrates different materials with variable stability between the anode and the cathode.
This multi-layered, multi-material battery prevents the penetration of lithium dendrites by not blocking them entirely, but rather by controlling and containing them. “These first results show that solid-state lithium-metal batteries could be competitive with commercial lithium-ion batteries – added Professor Li – And the flexibility and versatility of our multilayer design makes it potentially compatible with the procedures. of mass production in the battery sector. Adapting it to the commercial level will not be easy and there are still some practical challenges, but we believe they will be overcome ”. In short, even if the transformation from laboratory research to series product will not be an easy process, it is legitimate to expect a revolution in electric vehicle batteries within a period of time that is not too long. (mr)
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