Experts in China are taking on a cold-weather problem for many materials: shrinkage.
For batteries, a solution is to develop an electrode material that instead expands as the mercury drops, boosting performance in frigid temperatures. That's what led the team from multiple universities to study lithium titanium phosphate, or LTP, according to a report from Tech Xplore.
Most of the batteries that power electric vehicles and other tech use lithium-ion chemistry, which thrives in warm temperatures. Car and Driver reported that a comfortable 70 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal. But, for places like America's Northeast, half the year can provide for much colder settings.
At below freezing, EV range can drop 10% to 20% or more, per the Car and Driver article. The publication's team tested a Rivian R1T truck at 12 degrees, and the range dropped to 190 miles from the estimated 250.
Electrode coatings and integrated heaters are other ideas Tech Xplore reported to have been investigated to solve the problem. Elsewhere in China, battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology has a second-generation sodium-ion pack that works well at minus-40 degrees.
The experts working with LTP are finding that its low-temp expansion properties can help keep the lithium-ions moving as batteries cycle. The researchers are from Shanghai's Donghua and Fudan universities, as well as Inner Mongolia University in Hohhot.
The team studied the material with high-tech electron microscopes and spectrometric devices. They found that its crystal structure had cavities and channels "where ions can lodge." As the temperature drops, atomic vibrations change, providing for a widening of these voids. The result is better ion movement, which is critical to battery cycling, all per Tech Xplore.
When batteries operate, ions move between two electrodes through a substance called electrolyte, as described by the U.S. Energy Department.
LTP "can enable good low-temperature electrochemical performance, which becomes a new strategy to tackle the low-temperature issues of metal-ion batteries," the experts wrote in a lab summary published by Wiley.
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Seeing friends and family buy EVs 👯 At 14 degrees, the ion spread rate remained at 84% of what it was at 77 degrees. A carbon-coated version also tested well, all at 1,000 cycles, Tech Xplore reported.
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More than 20% of America's electricity is generated by renewables, with wind, hydropower, and solar leading the way, according to the DOE. Temperature-resilient packs are important to hold intermittent energy from the sun and wind to support the grid and for blackout protection.
It's a growing concern, as NASA experts link our planet's warming to greater risks for more power-cutting severe weather events. Switching to renewable sources can help to lessen heat-trapping gas production.
Federal tax credits for up to 30% of home-based solar panel and battery storage costs are still available. But the incentives are in jeopardy under President Donald Trump, who signed a flurry of executive orders after taking office, some of which may eliminate the clean energy programs, according to EnergySage.
Innovations like the cold-tolerable battery component being developed in China could help to lessen the cost of cleaner tech, improving performance in a wider climate range.
"Materials with negative thermal expansion are thus highly promising for use as an electrode material in lithium-ion batteries in cold environments," the experts wrote, per Tech Xplore.
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