The world needs more power, preferably in a form that’s clean and renewable. Our energy-storage strategies are currently shaped by lithium-ion batteries – at the cutting edge of such technology – but what can we look forward to in years to come?
Let’s begin with some battery basics. A battery is a pack of one or more cells, each of which has a positive electrode (the cathode), a negative electrode (the anode), a separator and an electrolyte. Using different chemicals and materials for these affects the properties of the battery – how much energy it can store and output, how much power it can provide or the number of times it can be discharged and recharged (also called cycling capacity).
Battery companies are constantly experimenting to find chemistries that are cheaper, denser, lighter and more powerful. We spoke to Saft Research Director Patrick Bernard, who explained three new battery technologies with transformative potential.
NEW GENERATION LITHIUM-ION
WHAT IS IT?
In lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, energy storage and release is provided by the movement of lithium ions from the positive to the negative electrode back and forth via the electrolyte. In this technology, the positive electrode acts as the initial lithium source and the negative electrode as the host for lithium. Several chemistries are gathered under the name of Li-ion batteries, as the result of decades of selection and optimization close to perfection of positive and negative active materials. Lithiated metal oxides or phosphates are the most common material used as present positive materials. Graphite, but also graphite/silicon or lithiated titanium oxides are used as negative materials.
With actual materials and cell designs, Li-ion technology is expected to reach an energy limit in the next coming years. Nevertheless, very recent discoveries of new families of disruptive active materials should unlock present limits. These innovative compounds can store more lithium in positive and negative electrodes and will allow for the first time to combine energy and power. In addition, with these new compounds, the scarcity and criticality of raw materials are also taken into account.
WHAT ARE ITS ADVANTAGES?
Today, among all the state-of-the-art storage technologies, Li-ion battery technology allows the highest level of energy density. Performances such as fast charge or temperature operating window (-50°C up to 125°C) can be fine-tuned by the large choice of cell design and chemistries. Furthermore, Li-ion batteries display additional advantages such as very low self-discharge and very long lifetime and cycling performances, typically thousands of charging/discharging cycles.
WHEN CAN WE EXPECT IT?
New generation of advanced Li-ion batteries is expected to be deployed before the first generation of solid-state batteries. They’ll be ideal for use in applications such as Energy Storage Systems for renewables and transportation (marine, railways, aviation and off road mobility) where high energy, high power and safety is mandatory.
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