Researchers at Russia's Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) have discovered a way to improve the resilience of battery cathodes. This could lead to more powerful, durable, and safe lithium-ion batteries.
According to a Skoltech press release, the team found a way to create a concentration gradient structure that places energy-storing nickel at the center of cathode particles. The nickel diminishes toward the cathode's surface and is replaced by an increasing concentration of manganese and cobalt stabilizers.
This structure helps increase the cathode's power capacity. The addition of stabilizers helps reduce the degradation process that normally occurs through repeated charge and discharge cycles, the report explained.
Creating a stable gradient structure posed significant challenges. But mathematical models that accounted for the spherical shape and radius of the particles provided a way forward for the design.
"In gradient structures, it is very difficult to create an optimally thick and stable manganese- and cobalt-rich surface and achieve linear variation of transition metal content from the particle's center toward its edges," said co-author and Skoltech Materials Science PhD student Lyutsia Sitnikova, according to a report by Interesting Engineering.
The next challenge involved maintaining the gradient structure while doping the cathode material with lithium at a high temperature. Adding tantalum — known for its exceptional corrosion resistance and high melting point — to the mix offered a solution.
"Tantalum effectively preserves both the gradient structure by blocking the interdiffusion of nickel, manganese, and cobalt, and the elongated shape of the primary crystallites by preventing the growth of the primary particles," said Professor Artem Abakumov of the Energy Center, who supervised this study and commented on its key findings.
"This greatly enhances the material's cycling stability and thermic stability," he added.
The resulting cathode material helped to reduce the rate of battery decay per cycle by nearly half. This could lead to improved power and longevity for electric vehicles, electronic devices, and battery energy storage systems.
The adoption of electric vehicles is helping reduce transportation emissions and decrease reliance on highly polluting petroleum-based fuels. Innovations that can increase their utility and longevity, while reducing the need to mine more raw materials, may help make personal EV adoption more accessible and sustainable.
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The next step for the research team is to begin manufacturing this new material and run real-world tests to prove its effectiveness.
"The findings we published are of both fundamental interest and practical import: They will underlie the pilot production of the first batches of the cathode material NMC90-GTa at Skoltech's experimental production line with an annual output of up to 100 tons," Professor Abakumov explained.
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