UCLA scientists have created a new imaging method that captures lithium-metal batteries during charging, demonstrating exactly how they lose power over time, the school's California NanoSystems Institute reported.
This new approach could expedite the development of lithium-metal batteries, which hold twice the power of current lithium-ion batteries but don't last nearly as long.
The technique, called electrified cryogenic electron microscopy (eCryoEM), freezes batteries mid-charge using liquid nitrogen. This way, scientists can see battery reactions at sizes smaller than the wavelength of light.
The UCLA team spent four years developing this method. They made extremely thin batteries that could be frozen in milliseconds while charging. By freezing batteries at different charging points, they built a stop-motion view of how the battery's corrosion layer forms, exposing details that older methods missed.
The scientists compared different battery chemistries to determine what limits battery life. They discovered the main difference isn't how quickly electrons move through the corrosion layer but how the liquid electrolyte reacts with the lithium metal. The chemistry of better batteries had a reaction rate three times slower in the early stages of corrosion layer formation.
"The findings suggest we should dedicate some engineering to making the liquid electrolyte as inert as possible," noted Yuzhang Li, the study's corresponding author. Li's suggestion would give battery makers a clear path to better batteries.
This imaging approach opens doors in other fields, too. Li's team is studying how the approach might help with supercapacitors and carbon dioxide conversion. They are also using the method to study brain cells, which might lead to new treatments for brain injuries and disorders.
China produces almost 80% of today's lithium-ion batteries, and this American research could give the United States a leg up in the next-generation battery technology race. While you can't buy lithium-metal batteries yet, this discovery brings them closer to commercial availability.
If work keeps progressing at this rate, you might see these longer-lasting batteries in your phone and electric vehicle within five years.
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