ADVANCES in ANODE MATERIALS for LITHIUM BATTERIES
Mainak Majumder Mahdokht Shaibani
Why the Need for New Batteries?
The emergence of Li-ion batteries enabled new applications which emerged and evolved over the last decades …
crucial.com.au
Consumer Electronics
sustainable-bus
Electric Vehicles & Buses
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Renewable Energy Storage
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Defence & Marine
High buoyant energy density Pressure Tolerant
New applications, however, demand improved performance metrics.
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Regenerative braking Aviation
Low temperature operation
High gravimetric energy density High power density
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Beyond conventional Li-ion battery space is rich with opportunities
Changing the chemistry of Li-ion battery electrodes and/or exploring entirely new systems
Altering the chemistry of Li-ion battery electrodes to achieve (or at least approach) the theoretical maximum.
Exploring revolutionary lithium-metal based chemistries
Current Opinion in Che.Eng. 2017, 16:31–38
Graphite vs. silicon vs. lithium
One key component of the battery, which has been the subject of substantial research and development, is the negative electrode or the anode
Anode Material Specific Capacity (mAh/g) Volume Change (%) Advantages Challenges
Lithium 3862 Virtually infinite Highest energy density Unstable, highly reactive
Silicon 3600 320 Ultra-high energy density Capacity fade due to large
volume change
Graphite 372 10 Stable Low energy density
Lithium Graphite Silicon
graphiteelectrodesforsale
The lithium metal anode dream is getting closer to reality
Lithium has the highest theoretical capacity and the lowest electrochemical potential, which makes it the ultimate anode material.
Cycled lithium Fresh Lithium
Stabilizing Li anode by interface engineering
Artificial SEI Nanoscale interfacial engineering
Homogenizing ion flux
Melt infusion of lithium into lithiophilic scaffold
Solid state-electrolyte
DOI: 10.1038/NNANO.2017.16
Who Makes Lithium Metal Batteries?
Company Main Technology Claimed Metrics
PolyPlus Battery Company Inc., funded in 1990, California
Glass Protected Li Metal Twice the energy/half the size
Solid Power, funded in 2012, Colorado
Solid electrolyte Fifty percent more energy density
Sion Power, funded in 1989, Arizona Ceramic Protected Li Metal (Licerion®)
500 Wh/kg QuantumScape, funded in 2010, Solid electrolyte ?
Silicon is already there, the race is to pack more of it.
Main degradation mechanisms of Si anodes Main strategies to overcome the volume change
doi.org/10.1038/natrevmats.2016.13
Who Makes (all) Silicon Anode?
Company Main Technology Claimed Metrics
Amprius, Inc., funded in 2008, California
100% Silicon nanowire 450 Wh/kg and 1200 Wh/L
80% capacity charged in 15 months Zenlabs , California Silicon oxide anodes, Prelithiation 12 Ah pouch cells, 315 Wh/kg, over
1,000 cycles at C/3 NEXEON Limited, funded in 2006,
UK
engineered porosity at the particle level in combination with optimised anode design
35%-40% increase in specific energy
Enovix Corporation, funded in 2006, 3D cell architecture 900 Wh/L
Anode Research at Monash
Lithium-Sulfur battery could be the commercially viable energy storage system which ticks all the boxes.
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Any combination of:
Lithium, Potassium, Manganese, Zinc, Sodium, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Iron, Iodine,
Silicon, Aluminium, Carbon, Sulfur
reproduced from Jay Whitacre Ted talk
Adv. Energy Mater. 2015, 5, 1401986
400 – 600 Wh kg-1 400 – 800 Wh L-1
Li-S Battery: Current status and future prospects
https://oxisenergy.com/technology/
Safety Cycle life Cost Effectiveness Full discharge Eco friendly
Anode Research at Monash
We look at Graphene-based technologies and device engineering for increasing the durability of Lithium metal anode and Silicon anode.
Lithium Sulfur Battery
• Web-like sulfur cathode architecture
• Good cycle life in coin cell (upto 1000 cycles and upto 2C)
• Energy density (~ 225 Wh/Kg) in pouch-cell configuration
• Reducing the intensity of critical minerals
•
Patent pending
Pouch-cell data
-5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
Discharge capacity (mAh g-1)
Cycle number
0 20 40 60 80 100
Efficiency (%)
40 80 120 160 200 240 280
Energy density (Wh kg-1)
Coin-cell data
Anode Research at Monash
We look at Graphene-based technologies and device engineering for increasing the durability of Lithium metal anode and Silicon anode.
0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30
0.35 12 mA cm
6 mA cm-2 -2
LiPF6 in EC/DMC Capacitance (F cm-2 )
3 mA cm-2
-0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0
Current Density (A g-1)
Acetonitrile
Lithium Metal Capacitors
• High energy density competitive with Lithium Ion Capacitor (~ 30-50 Wh/Kg)
• Good cycle life and power delivery performance (upto 20,000 cycles and upto 20C)
• No-pre lithiation step required
Anode Research at Monash
We look at Graphene-based technologies and device engineering for increasing the durability of Lithium metal anode and Silicon anode.
Lithium – Iodine Battery
• Moderate energy density (~ 120-150 Wh/Kg)
• Large cycle life (~ 10,000 cycles)
• High power delivery performance (upto 10C)
• Low cost (~ 5 times cheaper than LiB)
• Reducing the intensity of critical minerals
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
-10 -5 0 5 10
Current (mA)
Potential (V)
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
Cycle Number (N)
Specific Capacity (mAh/g)
10 C
0 20 40 60 80 100
CE (%)
Patent pending
Anode Research at Monash
We look at Graphene-based technologies and device engineering for increasing the durability of Lithium metal anode and Silicon anode.
Silicon Anode
• High silicon fraction (33%)
• Expected energy density increase compared to LIB (~ 30%)
• Large cycle life (~ 1000 cycles)
• High power delivery performance
• Low cost (Si recycled from solar panels)
• Scalable layer-by-layer coating
1 C
Current technologies vs. Emerging technologies (Reduction of the cathode Intensity by substituting the anode!)
Battery generations categorisation by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC)23, published by EU on December 4, 2020
NMC cathodes NMC cathodes NMC cathodes
Separator Separator
Graphite (5 - 10% silicon)
anode Silicon composite anode Thin lithium metal anode Separator
2020
100-250 Wh kg-1 600 Wh L-1
2025
250-400 Wh kg-1 700 Wh L-1
>2025
350-500 Wh kg-1 1200 Wh L-1
Anode evolution from Gen. 3 to Gen. 5
• Substituting the low-capacity graphite anode with ultrahigh capacity silicon or lithium metal anodes would lead to 2-3 times more energy from the same amount of cathode material in the cell
• Reduction of cobalt intensity
Conclusions
Li metal & Silicon-based anodes show significant promise and investment potential
We are looking for commercialisation partners for our early-stage technologies Professor Mainak Majumder
