materialsscienceandengineering:
Increasing conductivity in new battery materials
The high energy density of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries make them a popular energy storage technology, especially in mobile applications such as personal electronics and electric cars. However, the materials currently used in Li-ion batteries are expensive, while many of them, like lithium cobalt oxide, are also difficult to handle and dispose of. What is more, batteries using these materials have relatively short lifetimes.
These shortcomings have led scientists to develop novel materials for next generation Li-ion batteries: two promising electrode materials are lithium titanate and lithium iron phosphate. The materials are readily available, safe to use, and easy to dispose of or recycle. Most importantly, batteries manufactured using these materials have significantly longer cycle and calendar lifetimes compared to current battery technologies. However, these new materials are currently hampered by their low electrical conductivity.
Scientists at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) in Kuopio have now come up with a potential solution to this low conductivity problem, which is reported in a paper in the Journal of Alloys and Compounds.
“The electric conductivity problem can be solved by producing nanosized, high surface area crystalline materials, or by modifying the material composition with highly conductive dopants, ” explains Tommi Karhunen, a researcher in the UEF Fine Particle and Aerosol Technology Laboratory. “We have succeeded in doing both for lithium titanate in a simple, one-step gas phase process developed here at the UEF Fine Particle and Aerosol Technology Laboratory.”
Important research.
via Tumblr http://bit.ly/1Wo6k2e
No comments:
Post a Comment