Effect of Lorentz force on the electrochemical performance of lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

Lorentz force theory demonstrates that electric current density and magnetic force are proportional, indicating that they compensate each other. In a battery operated at high magnetic forces, the electrons in the active material move fast in a specific magnetic field. γ-Fe2O3, a highly magnetic material, is used to prepare LiFePO4 electrodes to study the effect of the Lorentz force on lithium-ion battery performance. The magnetic field created by γ-Fe2O3 induces magnetic forces on the charged LiFePO4 particles, accelerating electron movement. Superconducting quantum interference measurements reveal that saturation magnetization and remanence are prominent when γ-Fe2O3 is added to the LiFePO4 electrodes. The LiFePO4 electrode containing 15wt% γ-Fe2O3 led to superior battery capacity (69.8mAhg−1 at 10C) compared with the pure LiFePO4 electrode (1.8mAhg−1 at 10C). In this study, Lorentz force theory is applied to improve the specific capacity and cycle life at high current rates of a battery containing LiFePO4 cathode materials, suggesting that incorporating γ-Fe2O3 into the cathode is an easy and cheap strategy for increasing the power density and cycle life of lithium-ion batteries.