Lithium News

Researchers recently claimed that a method to design and analyze novel ion conductors, which play a key role in rechargeable batteries component, could speed the development process of high-energy lithium batteries, delivery devices, and energy storage, for instance, fuel cells.

The new way depends on the perspective of how the vibrations in a crystal lattice of lithium ion conductors move, comparing with the method of inhibiting ion movement. This offers a method to determine new materials with superior ion mobility, enabling swift charging and discharging. In the same phase, the technique can be utilized to eliminate the materials reactivity with electrodes of battery that can abbreviate the productive life. Mainly two main characteristics are believed to be more commonly exclusive; low reactivity and improved ion mobility.

The development of this new model was led by Professor of Energy Yang Shao-Horn, W.M. Keck, graduate student Sokseiha Muy, and recently graduated Bachman Ph.D. ’17, and Livia Giordano, a research scientist and with nine other researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and MIT.

This new concept and joint efforts of all the researchers will turn out to be an influential tool for creating new and efficient performing materials that could result in drastic improvement in the overall capability of the power storage in the battery of given weight and size along with increased safety. The researchers also claimed that the technique can also be deployed for identifying the suitable materials for various electrochemical processes such as solid-oxide fuel cells, oxygen-generating reactions or membrane-based desalination systems.

The overall team behind the development of this method comprise Hao-Hsun Chang at MIT, Ryoji Kanno and Santoshi Hori at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Filippo Maglia, Peter Lamp Saskia Lupart at Research Battery Technology at BMW Group in Munich, Dipanshu Bansal, Douglas Abernathy, and Olivier Delaire at Oak Ridge.

Up until now, BYD produced its own lithium-ion battery cells, modules and packs. the automaker will reach 28 GWh of production capacity in 2018.

But according to the latest reports, both the battery unit and photovoltaic unit are to be spin-off and listed on the stock exchange.

One of the reasons to take this action is competition from other major battery manufacturers like CATL, who are searching for new ways to fuel rapid growth.

Since Nissan sold its AESC battery manufacturing unit (founded with NEC), we starting to see that production of cars and batteries seem to be two parallel, but separate businesses and this move by BYD further confirms this.

“BYD intends to spin off its battery and photovoltaic unit and further promote the separated unit to be listed on a stock exchange, aiming to rival with CATL and trying to seize the to-be-lost strategic opportunities in battery industry. Currently, BYD had contacted with Great Wall Motor, BAIC and GAC in terms of power battery area.”

“Once BYD successfully spins off its battery unit and enable it be listed on a stock exchange, it is considered that BYD will commence a new business with a total market value of RMB 100 billion. Moreover, the battery business will help improve BYD’s valuation.”

Scientists have been chasing fusion energy since the early 20^th century as a source of safe, clean, and virtually unlimited power source. They have yet to find a way to capture and sustain the energy produced in any viable manner. That’s not to say there haven’t been advances and technological breakthroughs over the decades to harness the power of the sun. In fact, a collaboration between MIT and Commonwealth Fusion Systems may produce a working pilot plant in the next 15 years. But in order to understand the future, we need to take a look at the past.

This is a 3D design rendering of possible fusion reactor for power generation. 

Initially, fusion research from the U.S. and USSR went hand in hand with atomic weapons development. It remained classified until a bunch of scientists and government officials got together between the two countries for a sort of “show and tell” meeting of fusion research at the “Atoms for Peace” conference back in 1958.

For the U.S. at that time, the first successful controlled nuclear fusion experiment was accomplished by scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory using Scylla I, a theta-pinch machine that essentially compresses plasma (normally deuterium and tritium) using magnetic fields. This process raised the temperature of the plasma to 15 million degrees Celsius, high enough to fuse atoms and produce neutrons.

The Soviets during that time had success with a tokamak device, which also uses a powerful magnetic field to compress hot plasma into the shape of a torus (or doughnut), thereby stabilizing the plasma and achieving fusion. The design is thought to be the leading device for sustaining controlled thermonuclear power for a practical reactor even to this date.

Beyond magnetic pinches and confinement systems to create and contain fusion power, other approaches include inertial confinement using lasers to super-heat pellet fuel to achieve a sustained reaction. Another option, electrostatic confinement, applies an electric field to heat ions up to fusion conditions.

Osaka University’s GEKKO XII inertial confinement platform for fusion experiments. (Courtesy of Kasuga, Sho via Wikipedia)

With fusion reactors, the concept revolves around neutrons generated from a deuterium and tritium reaction that will be absorbed by a blanket of lithium surrounding the core. That lithium is then transformed into tritium (and helium), thus producing more fuel, sustaining a chain reaction. The kinetic energy of the neutrons is absorbed by the lithium blanket, causing it to heat up and subsequently be collected by a coolant, and ultimately be used to generate electricity by conventional methods. The problem is that scientists haven’t developed a device that can heat the fuel to a high-enough temperature and confine it long enough to achieve the sustained chain reaction necessary for practical fusion power.

What’s the Latest?

MIT and Commonwealth Fusion Systems are working to develop a novel approach to the problem of fusion containment. They’re using high-temperature superconductors to contain the sustained reactions that would otherwise melt conventional solid materials. Researchers from both institutes plan to develop new superconducting magnets using a steel-tape material coated with a unique compound containing yttrium-barium-copper oxide.

MIT states it will develop these new magnets over a three-year period. After which, they will be used in a fusion reaction experiment utilizing SPARC—a compact, high-field, net fusion energy reactor system. The system is designed to produce about 100 MW of heat or enough energy to power a small city, although the experiment will not generate electricity.

MIT’s approach to fusion energy containment will use high-temperature superconductors to enclose the energy. 

According to the MIT press release, “This demonstration would establish that a new power plant of about twice SPARC’s diameter, capable of producing commercially viable net power output, could go ahead toward final design and construction. Such a plant would become the world’s first true fusion power plant, with a capacity of 200 MW of electricity, comparable to that of most modern commercial electric power plants.”

It would be an astounding technological milestone if they can achieve the goal of producing a pilot plant in less than two decades. Being able to harness the power of the sun through a contained chain fusion reaction is something that has always been “a few decades away,” just out of reach. The question of whether or not they will succeed will be answered as the years pass by, but even the most skeptical mind may waver considering MIT is at the helm.

Nissan Motor Co. is downplaying the potential of solid-state batteries, a hoped-for breakthrough technology in electric vehicles.

A senior Nissan technology executive called solid-state batteries’ level of development “practically a zero” and warned that they face many hurdles before they begin powering EVs.

In doing so, Japan’s No. 2 automaker is setting itself apart from rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Volkswagen Group on battery technology as the three giants heat up their EV plans.

Toyota and VW have been touting solid-state batteries.

Takao Asami, Nissan’s senior vice president for research and advanced engineering, said he doesn’t expect solid-state technology to be ready for serious deployment before the middle of the next decade. Among the obstacles are cost and manufacturing acumen, he said.

“All solid-state batteries, roughly speaking, are still in the initial phase of research. So according to my feeling, it’s practically a zero at this stage,” Asami said at Nissan’s world headquarters here south of Tokyo.

Solid-state batteries would replace the liquid electrolyte used in lithium ion batteries with a solid substance that allows for improved energy density, weight, safety and charging time.

“It’s working in the lab,” Asami conceded. “But if we make it bigger and put it in a vehicle, drive for several kilometers and ensure safety and cost performance, compared to a lithium ion battery, we don’t have a comparable scenario yet.

“We still need several breakthroughs.”

Nissan’s caution comes as competitors increasingly promote solid-state’s promise. Toyota has been uncharacteristically bullish in its outlook, saying it wants to commercialize next-generation solid-state batteries in the early 2020s.

Speaking on the subject in October, Toyota Executive Vice President Didier Leroy said, “We believe our solid-state battery technology can be a game changer with the potential to dramatically improve driving range.”

Nissan sees more immediate payback from improving existing lithium ion technology.

“There’s still big room for the improvement of the current technology of lithium ion batteries. We have not reached the ultimate lithium ion battery generation yet,” Asami said.

“We have a goal for two more generations or so.”

Nissan expects EVs to reach cost parity with conventional gasoline vehicles in the mid-2020s, Chief Planning Officer Philippe Klein said separately.

EV costs are rapidly falling, thanks to better power density in batteries and bigger economies of scale. Meanwhile, conventional powertrain costs are increasing as carmakers resort to more sophisticated technologies to meet more stringent emissions regulations.

“Our forecast is that those two lines will cross around the middle of the next decade,” Klein said.

Nissan plans to launch eight new EVs, and to hit annual sales of 1 million electrified vehicles by 2022.

The company also said it will bring 20 models with autonomous driving technology to 20 markets by then, and reach 100 percent connectivity in all new Nissan and Infiniti models.

The new targets flesh out the company’s M.O.V.E. to 2022 midterm plan unveiled by CEO Hiroto Saikawa last fall to guide the company through the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023.

Nissan’s growth strategy focuses on heavy investment in three pillars: electrification, autonomous driving and connectivity. Bold electrification goals account for the bulk of the new targets, as Nissan steps up its response to an onslaught of new electrified entrants.

Nissan’s sales goal of 1 million electrified vehicles includes full electrics and hybrids. The tally will get a boost from the broad introduction of e-Power, a range-extender hybrid system that Nissan sells in Japan and plans to bring to other markets.

Sales of vehicles with e-Power will account for more than half the total, Klein said.

Infiniti will get its first EV in 2021, and about half of the luxury brand’s sales will be full electric or e-Power by 2025, the company said.

Electrification is expected to blossom quickly in Japan and Europe, and more slowly in the U.S. and China. But it is expected to account for a much bigger slice of sales everywhere. In Japan and Europe, electrified vehicles are expected to account for up to half of Nissan’s sales by 2025; in the U.S., between 20 and 30 percent; and in China, between 35 and 40 percent.

The eight new EVs will come on top of Nissan’s current offerings, the Leaf and e-NV200 van.

One will be an all-electric crossover based on the IMx concept vehicle shown at last year’s Tokyo Motor Show. It will be a global vehicle and get autonomous driving technology.

The Lithium-air or Li-air battery is a metal air electrochemical cell which uses lithium oxidation at the anode and oxygen reduction at the cathode to induce a current flow. The Li-air battery has a very high energy density equivalent to gasoline, triggering global interest in super energy storage system. As comparison to other battery devices, Li-air batteries offers higher analytical energy density, high efficiency, and prolonged shelf life, which is anticipated to boost the renewable energy economy. Lithium-air batteries integrate the lightest and most electronegative metal of Li with the inexhaustibly ambient oxygen, hence involving intensive attentions owing to the main application in transportation.

Li-air batteries have been anticipated to have applications in specific sectors, associated with renewable energy such as smart-city projects, off-grid systems, and on-grid hybrid power supplies. However, high accumulation of metal wastes may create hurdle for the growth. The European Directive 2006/66/EC, was announced on 26 September 2006 on batteries and accumulators to overcome such hurdles. The Directive states that all member states must recycle and collect materials (including batteries), irrespective of their electrochemical classification.

Argonne National Laboratory (US Department of Energy) researchers have designed an advanced chemical process for super lithium oxide production, therefore improving the performance and the resistance of the accumulator. Additionally, Cambridge researchers have also revealed a study on lithium-air battery working with 90% efficiency and can be recharged 2,000 times, paving firm opportunities for the global expansion.

Rechargeable Li-air batteries have ultra-high energy densities theoretical capacities are considered as one of the most promising power sources for next-generation electric vehicles. For instance, in July 2016, Tesla installed a massive battery plant in Nevada, and has started working on stability, overheating, light weightlessness, and fire-proof batteries

Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP), Nickel Cobalt Aluminum (NCA ), Nickel Manganese Cobalt ( NMC), lithium cobalt oxide (LCO ) and Lithium MANGANESE Oxide (LMO ) are few types of lithium-air batteries, differing in strengths, and used for various applications. For instance, NMC is generally considered as the most potential for application in Electric Vehicles (EVs) owing to the high performance, safety and low cost.

Increasing applications in electric vehicles, smart devices, and development of enhanced Li-air batteries are considered as the major factors enhancing the industry growth. Li-air batteries have huge potential, providing up to five times more energy than other conventional batteries, paves new opportunities for the growth. Furthermore, gradual shift of automobile sector from petroleum fueled vehicles towards electric vehicles has also projected to witness the growth over the forecast period.

The global lithium air battery market has been segmented by type and application. On the basis of type, the market has been segregated into conventional lithium air batteries and Nano lithium air batteries. Conventional lithium air batteries are majorly used for the development of clean energy as compared to traditional batteries producing flammable gases & chemical emission. Conventional lithium air batteries are fundamentally lithium dry air batteries since; lithium air batteries cannot withstand carbon dioxide or moisture. Furthermore, Nano lithium air batteries can deliver thrice the capacity of current attempts and can be operational for thousands of the cycle with 12 minutes charge. Based on application, the global market has been bifurcated as electronics application, Electric Vehicles (EVs), and grid backups. The electronic segment is projected to account for the largest market shares among all the applications. The progress of advanced, higher energy lithium batteries is essential in the rapid business of the electric car market.

Europe region for battery market is expected to contribute majorly to the industry and is projected to witness significant growth over the forecast period. In Asia Pacific region, the emerging economies such as China and India are expected to witness a rise for the demand of lithium air batteries owing to their tremendous electronics market.

Major players in the lithium air batteries market are targeting on innovation and delivering their products at competitive prices. Some of the key players for the Li-air battery market include Poly Plus Battery Company, Mullen Technologies Inc., and Lithium Air Industries among others.