Fast charging is a dynamic challenge; therefore, understanding and improving fast charging performance requires insights from the atomic to the system level.
Image Credit: Illus_man/Shutterstock.com
Lithium-ion batteries have risen to prominence as the preferred battery technology for portable gadgets, electric cars, and energy storage in recent years. Large currents are required to speed up the charging rate, but these have been reported to impair batteries' energy efficiency and other functionalities.
Significance and Use of Lithium-Ion Batteries
After three decades of development, lithium-ion batteries (LIB) have become an inextricable part of our existence. Because of their large capacity and dependability, they are commonly employed in compact long-term power storage. As a consequence, they may now be present in almost every facet of life.
Because of their long life, simple form, and lack of power failure, LIBs are excellent for worldwide monitoring devices. Large marine devices and warships are also powered by Li-ion batteries. Aside from that, Li-ion cells are ideal for photovoltaic arrays because of their rapid and efficient recharging and storing.
Challenge in Fast Charging of Lithium-Ion Batteries
A negatively charged anode and a positively charged cathode are segregated by a medium called electrolyte, which transports lithium ions between them in lithium-ion batteries. When a battery is charged too rapidly, the lithium ions tend to accumulate on top of the anode's surface, causing a "plating" phenomenon that might cause terminal voltage damage in batteries.
Lithium concentration and accumulation at the negative electrode interface, temperature rise and regulation, gas transformation, robust electrolyte interfacial growth, ionic decomposition, and concentrated compaction that can cause subatomic crack propagation and mechanical tensions are all issues concerned with fast charging at the battery level.
These factors have a significant impact on the effectiveness, reliability, and lifetime of lithium-ion batteries during usage.
Innovative Strategies to Enhance Charging Rates in Batteries
Recent investigations have shown some promising outcomes in terms of upgrading battery materials and charging times. Some of the innovative methods through which charging rates of batteries can be enhanced are as follows:
Optimizing Electrode Materials for Batteries
To progress lithium-ion batteries and further improve electric cars, increased energy efficiency electrode materials are required.
A group of Japanese researchers, in the journal Chemical Communications has devised an anode manufacturing method that might lead to extraordinarily fast charging of lithium-ion batteries.
The anode's source material is poly (benzimidazole), an organic polymer that may be made from biologically derived raw materials.
The researchers created a graphite anode with a record-setting nitrogen concentration of 17 percent in weight by calcining this thermoplastic polymer at 800°C. The researchers designed half-cells and full-cells and performed charge-discharge tests to monitor the effectiveness of their anode and compare it to the more prevalent graphite.
More from AZoM: Powering Next-Generation Electronics with Recovered Lithium
The findings were promising, as the suggested anode material was shown to be suitable for rapid charging due to its improved lithium-ion kinetics. Furthermore, durability tests revealed that the batteries with the suggested anode material preserved roughly 90% of their original capacity even after 3,000 repetitions at high rates, which is much higher than the capacity retained by batteries with other anode materials.
A group of researchers in the journal Materials Today has also produced a nano-sized electrode that contains manganese and titanium ions, which results in a more powerful transfer of electrons and lithium ions, allowing the battery to store and distribute more charge quickly than ever while maintaining battery life.
Because titanium and manganese are common elements, we can make high-performance electrode materials with them without the usage of nickel and cobalt ions, which are currently employed in electric cars.
Pulse Charging Technique
In research, pulse charging procedures are also prevalent, in which the charging current is regularly interrupted by brief rest intervals or discharging pulses.
The technique tries to limit concentration dispersion, as well as the possibility of a negative localized anode polarity and dynamic stresses caused by unequal lithium incorporation and extraction in solid particles. The pulse charging technique is abstracted to have faster-charging rates and greater efficiency.
Faster Battery Charging by using a New Material as Electrode
According to University of Twente (MESA+ Institute) researchers, the charging rate of lithium-ion batteries may be enhanced tenfold by employing a whole new material, nickel niobate, for the anode. This is feasible without endangering the electrocatalyst, causing battery failure, or shortening the battery's lifespan. Another benefit is that the production process is straightforward. In the journal Advanced Energy Materials, the researchers presented their first findings utilizing batteries with the novel anode.
Whether for electric cars or usage in the power grid, battery performance may still be greatly improved. Faster charging and discharging or a better energy efficiency result in smaller, more lightweight batteries. Not all automobiles and automobile batteries are yet equipped to handle these changes.
As a result, new materials are being sought all over the globe. Aside from the technical criteria, there is a pressing need to substantially improve the battery industry's sustainability and carbon impact. The novel material nickel niobate (NiNb2O6) looks to have highly appealing qualities, and it recovers to its previous level after several cycles of ultra-fast charging. This is largely due to its appealing 'open' and uniform crystal structure, which results in similar charge transport pathways.
References and Further Reading
Tomaszewska, A., Chu, Z., Feng, X., O'Kane, S., Liu, X., Chen, J., & Wu, B. (2019). Lithium-ion battery fast charging: A review. ETransptransportation0011. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Lithium-ion-battery-fast-charging%3A-A-review-Tomaszewska-Chu/db0e11b9df91da92411f9233131bc9bdc6cc2a50
Chen, C., Shang, F., Salameh, M., & Krishnamurthy, M. (2018, June). Challenges and advancements in fast charging solutions for EVs: A technological review. In 2018 IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference and Expo (ITEC) (pp. 695-701). IEEE. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8450139
Patnaik, Kottisa Sumala and Badam, Rajashekar and Peng, Yueying and Higashimine, Koichi and Kaneko, Tatsuo and Matsumi, Noriyoshi. "Extremely fast charging lithium-ion battery using bio-based polymer-derived heavily nitrogen-doped carbon. Chem. Commun. 2021 https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/CC/D1CC04931C
Yuki Kobayashi, Miho Sawamura, Sayaka Kondo, Maho Harada, Yusuke Noda, Masanobu Nakayama, Sho Kobayakawa, Wenwen Zhao, Aiko Nakao, Akira Yasui, Hongahally Basappa Rajendra, Keisuke Yamanaka, Toshiaki Ohta, Naoaki Yabuuchi, Activation and stabilization mechanisms of anionic redox for Li storage applications: Joint experimental and theoretical study on Li2TiO3–LiMnO2 binary system, Materials Today, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369702120300754?via%3Dihub
Aryanfar A, Brooks D, Merinov BV, Goddard WA, Colussi AJ, Hoffmann MR. Dynamics of lithium dendrite growth and inhibition: pulse charging experiments and Monte Carlo calculations. J Phys Chem Lett 2014; 5(10). https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-44054-5_2
Rui Xia et al, Nickel Niobate Anodes for High Rate Lithium‐Ion Batteries, Advanced Energy Materials (2021). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aenm.202102972
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the author expressed in their private capacity and do not necessarily represent the views of AZoM.com Limited T/A AZoNetwork the owner and operator of this website. This disclaimer forms part of the Terms and conditions of use of this website.