Next-generation Battery Technologies Research Articles

Next-generation batteries and U.S. energy storage: A comprehensive review: Scrutinizing advancements in battery technology, their role in renewable energy, and grid stability

This study provides a comprehensive review of next-generation battery technologies and their critical role in U.S. energy storage, particularly focusing on renewable energy integration and grid stability. The main objectives were to assess the current advancements in battery technology, evaluate their economic viability and environmental impacts, and understand the implications for stakeholders in renewable energy and grid management. Employing a systematic literature review and content analysis, the study analyzed data from peer-reviewed articles, industry reports, and government publications published between 2014 and 2024. Key findings indicate significant progress in battery efficiency, lifespan, and safety, primarily driven by innovations in lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries. These advancements are pivotal in enhancing energy storage capabilities and facilitating the integration of renewable energy sources into the grid. However, challenges such as material scarcity, environmental concerns, and the need for improved recycling methods were identified. The study also highlights the importance of regulatory frameworks and policies in shaping the development and deployment of these technologies. Strategic recommendations for industry leaders and policymakers include focusing on sustainable material sourcing, investing in alternative battery chemistries, and implementing supportive regulatory frameworks. In conclusion, the study underscores the transformative potential of advanced battery technologies in achieving a sustainable energy future, suggesting future research directions in material development, battery chemistries, and integration with smart grid technologies.

Elevating Lithium-Sulfur Battery Durability through Samarium Oxide/Ketjen Black Modified Separator.

Lithium-sulfur batteries have garnered significant attention as a promising next-generation battery technology due to their potential for high energy density. However, their practical application is hampered by slow reaction kinetics and the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfide intermediates. In this context, the authors introduce a pioneering solution in the form of a novel porous carbon nanostructure modified with samarium oxide, denoted as Sm2O3/KB. The material has a highly polar surface, allowing lithium polysulfide to be chemisorbed efficiently. The unsaturated sites provided by the oxygen vacancies of Sm2O3 promote Li2S nucleation, lowering the reaction energy barrier and accelerating Li2S dissolution. The porous structure of Ketjen Black provides a highly conductive channel for electron transport and effectively traps polysulfides. Meanwhile, the batteries with Sm2O3/KB/PP spacers exhibited remarkable electrochemical performances, including a low-capacity decay rate of only 0.046 % for 1000 cycles at 2 C and an excellent multiplicative performance of 624 mAh g-1 at 3 C. This work opens up a new avenue for the potential use of rare-earth-based materials in lithium-sulfur batteries.

Unlocking the potential of open-tunnel oxides: DFT-guided design and machine learning-enhanced discovery for next-generation industry-scale battery technologies

Lithium–ion batteries (LIBs) are ubiquitous in everyday applications.

Mesoporous Silica Engineered Lithium Metal Batteries: Unraveling the Mechanisms behind Dendrite Inhibition and Enhanced Electrochemical Performance

Lithium metal batteries are widely considered to be a next-generation battery technology due to their high energy density, fast charging capability, and potential to power a wide range of applications, from portable electronics to electric vehicles.Compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries, which use graphite as the anode material, lithium metal batteries have the potential to offer significantly higher energy density. This is because lithium metal has a much higher theoretical capacity than graphite, meaning it can store more energy per unit weight or volume. As a result, lithium metal batteries could potentially offer longer run times and smaller form factors than lithium-ion batteries, which are already widely used in consumer electronics and electric vehicles.In addition to their high energy density, lithium metal batteries also offer fast charging capabilities. This is because the lithium metal anode can be charged more quickly than the graphite anode used in conventional lithium-ion batteries. This could enable faster charging times for electric vehicles and other applications, reducing the time required for recharging and improving their overall usability.However, one of the major challenges with lithium metal batteries is dendrite growth, which can occur when lithium metal ions deposit unevenly on the surface of the anode during charging. These dendrites are needle-like structures that can penetrate the separator and cause short-circuits, leading to reduced battery performance and safety issues. As a result, much of the research on lithium metal batteries has focused on developing strategies to prevent dendrite growth, such as using coatings or electrolytes with additives that can stabilize the lithium metal anode.Despite these challenges, lithium metal batteries continue to be a promising next-generation battery technology. Researchers are working on improving their energy density, charging speed, and safety, and they are exploring a range of applications, from portable electronics to electric vehicles and grid-scale energy storage. If these challenges can be overcome, lithium metal batteries could revolutionize the energy storage industry and enable a wide range of new and exciting applications.To address this issue, we have explored the use of various coatings on the lithium metal anode to prevent dendrite growth. In this study, ordered mesoporous silica with different pore sizes and pore structures, such as SBA-15 and KIT-6, were used as coatings between the lithium metal anode and separator.SBA-15 and KIT-6 are two types of mesoporous silica materials that are widely used in various applications due to their unique properties. The synthesis of these materials involves the use of templates to control the pore size and structure.They are synthesized using a combination of a surfactant(pluronic P123 or cetyltrimethylammonium bromide;CTAB) as the template and tetraethyl orthosilicate(TEOS) as the silica source. The synthesis involves mixing a solution of surfactant and TEOS in acidic conditions, followed by aging and calcination steps. The resulting materials have a highly ordered hexagonal pore structure(SBA-15) and body-centered cubic pore structure(KIT-6) with a pore size ranging from 5 to 20 nm.By coating the surface of the lithium metal with a uniform pore structure material such as ordered mesoporous silica, dendrite growth can be suppressed and lithium deposition can occur more uniformly.The uniform pore structure material acts as a physical barrier to lithium ion diffusion and helps to control the deposition of lithium ions onto the surface of the lithium metal. When lithium ions are deposited onto the surface of the lithium metal, they can form a layer of lithium that can grow and become thick over time. If the lithium layer is too thick, it can become unstable and form dendrites. However, the uniform pore structure material can help to limit the thickness of the lithium layer and promote the deposition of lithium ions in a more uniform manner, thus reducing the likelihood of dendrite formation.Additionally, the uniform pore structure material can help to reduce the concentration of lithium ions at the surface of the lithium metal, which is another factor that can contribute to dendrite growth. By limiting the concentration of lithium ions at the surface, the uniform pore structure material can help to prevent the formation of high-concentration regions that can promote dendrite growth.Overall, the mechanism by which a uniform pore structure material can suppress dendrite growth involves controlling the deposition of lithium ions onto the surface of the lithium metal, limiting the thickness of the lithium layer, and reducing the concentration of lithium ions at the surface. These factors help to promote more uniform lithium deposition and prevent the formation of dendrites, leading to improved battery performance and safety.

Characterizing the Cathode Degradation Process from Thermal Abuse in Solid State Batteries

With an ever-increasing reliance on batteries for all aspects of life, safety of energy storage is a growing concern as reported instances of lithium-ion battery (LIB) fires and even a solid-state battery (SSB) fire arise. However, the understanding of battery safety from a fundamental materials level is not well understood. As the push for higher energy density batteries in the electrification of transportation continues, it is imperative to understand how underlying material degradation and failure affects the safety of current and next-generation lithium battery technology.In this study, heat release and corresponding degradation due to external heating are explored for the following battery configurations: All solid-state batteries (ASSBs), SSBs containing a low amount of liquid electrolyte, and LIBs. NMC532 cathode was used in all battery configurations, Ta-doped LLZO was used for the solid electrolyte, and LiPF6 in EC/EMC was used as the liquid electrolyte in the SSB and LIB configurations. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to raise microcells to definitive temperatures of interest depending upon their respective exotherm profile. LIB sample heat release was significantly higher than the heat release of the ASSB and SSB, even though the heating temperature range and final temperature were lower for the LIB samples. The disassembled microcell components were then analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XRD analysis revealed the LIB samples did not show the presence of the fully degraded rock salt crystalline phase after peak heat release, whereas ASSB and SSB configurations revealed the presence of the rock salt phase. Additionally, SEM image analysis shows no degradation of the LIB particles, while ASSB and SSB samples show surface degradation of the high temperature samples. Decomposition of NMC to the rock salt phase involves the release of oxygen, which may undergo an exothermic reaction inside the SSB. These investigations shed light into the expected extent of NMC decomposition at key temperatures and exothermic heat flow peaks for each battery composition. Future work combining these results with further elemental characterization experiments will pave the way for a materials-level understanding that can be incorporated into the initial design and development stages of next generation lithium batteries, impacting the creation of energy storage devices by ensuring commitment to safety from the ground up.

Operando 17o NMR Studies of Degradation in Li-Oxygen Batteries

Lithium-oxygen batteries are a promising next-generation battery technology, offering energy densities more than double that of the current state-of-the-art lithium-ion technology while not using transition metals in their cathodes. However, Li-oxygen battery commercialisation is hampered by short lifetimes caused by reactive oxygen species, such as singlet oxygen, that degrade the electrodes and electrolyte, resulting in a build-up of breakdown products. Even studying this breakdown is challenging as no technique can simultaneously detect and quantify all of the breakdown products, particularly in a non-destructive way. 17O NMR is ideally suited to this study as all common breakdown and discharge products form from a reaction involving oxygen gas or its derivatives. Thus, using 17O2 enriched gas leads to all the species of interest becoming enriched1 and hence detectable by NMR.Operando NMR, conducted as the cell cycles, is a powerful analysis technique offering non-invasive, quantitative, real-time measurements, often without heavy modification to the system of interest. Operando 17O NMR is particularly challenging due to 17O’s low sensitivity, broad signals and low natural abundance. We demonstrate how to overcome these challenges using sample enrichment, experimental setup and data post-processing. Specifically, we employ a double frequency sweep (DFS), Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (qCPMG) pulse sequence, a custom cell design and Gaussian processes (GP) to fit the data. These methods made monitoring degradation on the tens of minute timescales with the cell using 8mL (ca. $20) of 70% 17O2 possible. These methods can be applied to enable other 17O NMR studies, for example, of CO2 capture2, to be done in an operando manner and more broadly to other nuclei with similar NMR properties, such as sulphur in lithium sulphur batteries.We utilise these methods to separate out the chemical and electrochemical degradation occurring in the lithium-air cell by comparing a cell continuously discharged to one with “rest” periods in the discharge. Additionally, we can observe the onset of degradation mechanisms, be it at certain voltages or depths of discharge as well as species with limited lifetimes, such as H2O and CO2. This, along with ex-situ NMR measurements of electrolyte degradation caused by singlet oxygen has shed light on the fraction of degradation caused by singlet oxygen. In addition to highlighting the effect of high cell voltages on the breakdown and subsequent rapid reformation of solid breakdown products.Additives previously suggested to prevent this breakdown (LiI, dimethyl anthracene and triethylenediamine), by suppressing singlet oxygen, were tested in the cell. It was shown that while these almost entirely suppressed breakdown leading to water formation, and eventually to LiOH, they only had minor effects on the solid degradation products.It is hoped these insights can lead to the development of new and refined strategies to prevent breakdown in future cells.References1) Berge, A.H. et al. (2022) Revealing carbon capture chemistry with 17-oxygen NMR spectroscopy. Nat Commun 13, 77632) Leskes M. et al. (2013) Monitoring the Electrochemical Processes in the Lithium-Air Battery by Solid State NMR Spectroscopy J. Phys. Chem. C 117, 51, 26929–26939FigureA - In-situ cell mounted in NMR probe containing cell assemble and 17O2 gasB - Top quantification of common breakdown species, regression and error bars generated using gaussian processes. Highlighted is the breakdown of Li2CO3 at the end of the charge to produce CO2, which rapidly reacts as the start of discharge to reform Li2CO3 C - Schematic of breakdown mechanisms observed and their estimated contributions to breakdown Figure 1

(Invited) Improving Our Understanding of Conducting Polymer Binders

As lithium-ion batteries reach their intrinsic performance limits, next-generation battery technology arises that relies much more strongly on the electrode matrix. Traditional compositions of binders and conductive additives with non-polar surfaces face intrinsic obstacles in these developments. In many next-generation electrode formulations, this incompatibility reveals itself through particle disconnection, increased electrode inhomogeneity1, and conductive additive agglomeration2. Conducting polymers are an apparent solution to such problems. Conducting polymers and their composites can be designed to exhibit increased adhesion, stronger interactions with active material surfaces and electrolytes, and favorable mechanical properties, while providing electronic connectivity at the adhesive contact with the active material3. Many examples have been presented in the literature that demonstrate improved electrode performance using such composites4–6.A common form of conducting polymer composites combines an intrinsically conductive polymer (e.g. polypyrrole, polythiophene, polyaniline) with a polyelectrolyte (e.g. polacrylate, polystyrene sulfonate, carboxymethyl cellulose). This presentation discusses an exploration of some of the fundamental properties of composites of polypyrrole with carboxymethyl cellulose. The work shows intrinsically favorable properties of the composite for application in batteries7. Among those properties are that it can be easily processed in water and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, exhibits better adhesion to the current collector, shows competitive conductivity and distributes evenly across active materials. However, it will also be shown that the native structure of this composite is not ideal for long-range conduction and that improvement can be made to the material’s conductivity and capacitance8.Our work is targeting a more complete understanding of the properties of these composites as they are employed in battery environments. It demonstrates enormous promise for the use of conducting polymers as binders, but also gaps in our understanding of their interactions with electrolytes and active materials that need to be addressed to advance their impact on the development of next-generation batteries.

Quasi-Solid-State All-V2O5 Battery.

Solid-state symmetrical battery represents a promising paradigm for future battery technology. However, its development is hindered by the deficiency of high-performance bipolar electrodes and compatible solid electrolytes. Herein, a quasi-solid-state all-V2O5 battery constructed by a binder-free carbon fabric-V2O5 nanowires@graphene (CVOG) bipolar electrode and a softly cross-linked polyethylene oxide-based solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) is reported. The synergetic effect of nano-structuring of V2O5, hierarchical conductive network, and graphene wrapping endows the CVOG electrode with boosted reaction kinetics and suppressed vanadium dissolution. The cathodic and anodic reactions of CVOG are decoupled by electrochemical analysis, conceiving the feasibility of constructing all-V2O5 full battery. In manifesting the solid-state all-V2O5 battery, the robust and elastic SPE exhibits high ionic conductivity, tight/self-adaptable electrolyte-electrode contact, and a low charge-transfer barrier. The resultant solid-state full battery exhibits a high reversible capacity of 158mAhg-1 at 0.1C, good capacity retention of over 61% from 0.1C to 2C, and remarkable cycling stability of 77% capacity retention after 1000 cycles at 1C, which surpass other solid-state symmetrical batteries. Hence, this work provides a practice of high-performance solid-state batteries with symmetrical configuration and is constructive for next-generation battery technology.

Traditional and Iterative Group-IV Material Batteries through Ion Migration

In this review, we emphasize the significant potential of carbon group element-based (Group-IV) electrochemical energy devices prepared on the basis of ion migration in the realm of high-efficiency batteries. Based primarily on our group research findings, we elucidate the key advantages of traditional Group-IV materials as electrodes in ion batteries powered by metal ion migration. Subsequently, we delve into the operational principles and research progress of iterative Group-IV material moisture ion batteries, driven by ion migration through external moisture. Finally, considering the practical challenges and issues in real-world applications, we offer prospects for the development and commercialization of Group-IV materials utilizing ion migration in both conventional and next-generation battery technologies.

High-stability room temperature ionic liquids: enabling efficient charge transfer in solid-state batteries by minimizing interfacial resistance

Currently, intensive research is underway to develop stable electrolyte systems that can significantly enhance the performance of rechargeable batteries. Recent advances in solid electrolytes have led to new types of promising systems owing to their high conductivity. This has generated considerable interest in the practical applications of safe batteries. Considering the safety concerns associated with rechargeable batteries, solid electrolytes have become indispensable for the advancement of next-generation battery technologies. However, the increased interfacial resistance at solid-solid interfaces has become a critical challenge. To address this problem, room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) have been investigated as functional materials for mitigating the interfacial resistance in solid-state batteries (SSBs). The special properties of RTILs, such as their non-volatility, non-flammability, and high safety characteristics, make them highly promising candidates for safe batteries. Various approaches have been explored for the effective utilization of ionic liquids in SSBs. This review provides a comprehensive discussion on the application of RTILs as electrolytes, considering their electrochemical properties and incorporation into composites to minimize resistance in SSBs.

Enabling stable and high areal capacity solid state battery with Ni-rich cathode via failure mechanism study

Sulfide based all solid state batteries (ASSBs) with Ni-rich layered oxide cathode are one of the most promising next-generation battery technologies due to their high energy density and improved safety. However, its electrochemical performance is still unsatisfactory, especially with high cathode mass loading. Herein, the failure mechanisms of single crystal LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NCM811) in ASSBs are systematically investigated from three aspects: interfacial side reactions, micro-distribution of cathode composite and mechanical failure. In addition to the commonly reported interfacial side reactions, we find micro-heterogeneity in cathode composite has detrimental effects on electrochemical performance. Three strategies are proposed and are effective to achieve excellent electrochemical performance of the batteries: ASSBs with bare NCM811 retains 88.5 % of its capacity after 2000 cycles at 1C (1C = 200 mA g–1). Moreover, ASSBs with high cathode loading of 35.7 mg cm−2 (30 °C) and 71.4 mg cm−2 (60 °C) is explored, which deliver a record-breaking areal capacity of 6.4 mAh cm−2 and 13 mAh cm−2, respectively.

(Digital Presentation) Electrocatalytic and Conductive Vanadium Oxide on Carbonized Bacterial Cellulose Aerogel for the Sulfur Cathode in Li-S Batteries

Li-S chemistry is regarded as promising next-generation battery technology. However, its complex redox process and long-chain lithium polysulfides shuttling are hindering the development of practical Li-S battery technology. To address these problems, many transition-metal-oxide-based catalysts have been investigated to chemically bind soluble lithium polysulfides and accelerate their redox kinetics. However, the intrinsic poor electrical conductivities of these oxides restrict their catalytic performance, consequently limiting the sulfur utilization and the rate performance of Li-S batteries. Herein, we report a freestanding electrocatalytic sulfur host consisting of hydrogen-treated VO2 nanoparticles (H-VO2) anchored on nitrogen-doped carbonized bacterial cellulose aerogels (N-CBC). The hydrogen treatment enables the formation and stabilization of the rutile VO2(R) phase with metallic conductivity at room temperature, significantly enhancing its catalytic capability compared to the as-synthesized insulative VO2(M) phase. We characterized the electrocatalytic performance of this unique H-VO2@N-CBC structure using several methods and found that the activation energy between S8 and polysulfides and the one between polysulfides and Li2S are largely reduced by 28.2 and 43.3 kJ/mol, respectively. Accordingly, the Li-S battery performance is greatly improved, with a high initial specific capacity of 1347 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C and remarkable cycling stability with a capacity of 758 mAh g-1 after 300 cycles at 1 C. This work provides an effective strategy for designing and fabricating conductive oxide catalysts to promote the electrochemical performance of Li-S batteries.

Rational Design of Graphene-Supported Single Atom Catalysts for High Performance Lithium-Oxygen Batteries

Aprotic lithium-oxygen batteries (LOBs) have been considered as one of the next-generation battery technologies, due to its ultrahigh theoretical energy density (~3600 Wh kg -1), 5-10 times higher than the state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), supporting the development of electric vehicles (EVs). However, the battery system suffers from poor cyclability, low round-trip efficiency and inferior rate capability, mainly originated from the inertness of oxygen gas and the poor electrical conductivity of lithium peroxide (Li2O2), leading to the sluggish kinetics of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR)/ oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In response to the challenges, developing a highly efficient catalyst at the cathode is vital to boost the reaction rate and reduce the reaction overpotentials, eventually address the problem. Heterogeneous single-atom catalysts (SACs) on solid support are emerging as a new frontier in this research field. Here, we use the density of state (DFT) calculation to determine the catalytic activities of a wide range of transition metal single atoms distributing on the nitrogen doped graphene support and found that Zn-SAC exhibits the highest ORR/OER activities. We discovered that Zn-N4 moieties, functioning as catalytic centers, bind with LiO2 not very strongly, reduce the reaction overpotentials, facilitates the reaction rate and enhance the stability of the catalyst. The catalytic activity of SACs is highly correlated to the Gibbs free energy of the adsorbed LiO2. A descriptor, F of the catalysts determining the catalytic activity was developed from the metal properties of electronegativity (EN), enthalpy of vaporization (EV) and number of electrons in d orbital, by using supervised machine learning (ML) method, providing guidance for designing useful SACs in ORR/OER process. This work systematically provides guidance to design highly efficient SAC for LOBs and provides fundamental insights in choosing the proper metal for the ORR/ OER application.

(Digital Presentation) Polydopamine-Functionalized Bacterial Cellulose As Biopolymer Separator for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Li-S chemistry is regarded as promising next-generation battery technology, but the development of Li-S battery technology is severely impeded by the challenges of polysulfide shuttling and lithium dendrite formation. To address these issues, we coated polydopamine on bacterial cellulose (BC) to create a biopolymer separator. BC provides its dense network, while the presence of polydopamine offers dense polar functional groups to curb polysulfide shuttling by confining them in the sulfur cathode side. Such a separator, with the uniform distribution of nanoscale pores and functional chemical groups, also ensures a consistent Li+ flux at the anode surface, thus addressing the problem of lithium dendrite formation. Our results suggest that this polydopamine/BC-based biopolymer separator has superior performance over the commercial polyolefin-based separator. In particular, the Li-S batteries assembled with this biopolymer separator exhibited a specific discharge capacity of 1449 mAh/g at 0.1C and 909 mAh/g at 1C, while showing a small capacity fade of 0.023% per cycle.

Aluminene as a Low-Cost Anode Material for Li- and Na-Ion Batteries.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials are promising candidates for next-generation battery technologies owing to their high surface area, excellent electrical conductivity, and lower diffusion energy barriers. In this work, we use first-principles density functional theory to explore the potential for using a 2D honeycomb lattice of aluminum, referred to as aluminene, as an anode material for metal-ion batteries. The metallic monolayer shows strong adsorption for a range of metal atoms, i.e., Li, Na, K, and Ca. We observe surface diffusion barriers as low as 0.03 eV, which correlate with the size of the adatom. The relatively low average open-circuit voltages of 0.27 V for Li and 0.42 V for Na are beneficial to the overall voltage of the cell. The estimated theoretical specific capacity has been found to be 994 mA h/g for Li and 870 mA h/g for Na. Our research highlights the promise of aluminene sheets in the development of low-cost, high-capacity, and lightweight advanced rechargeable ion batteries.

Cross-Linked Solid Polymer-Based Catholyte for Solid-State Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

All-solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries (ASSLSBs) are a promising next-generation battery technology. They exhibit high energy density, while mitigating intrinsic problems such as polysulfide shuttling and lithium dendrite growth that are common to liquid electrolyte-based batteries. Among the various types of solid electrolytes, solid polymer electrolytes (SPE) are attractive due to their superior flexibility and high safety. In this work, cross-linkable polymers composed of pentaerythritol tetraacrylate (PETEA) and tri(ethylene glycol) divinyl ether (PEG), are incorporated into sulfur–carbon composite cathodes to serve a dual function as both a binder and electrolyte, as a so-called catholyte. The influence of key parameters, including the sulfur–carbon ratio, catholyte content, and ionic conductivity of the electrolyte within the cathode on the electrochemical performance, was investigated. Notably, the sulfur composite cathode containing 30 wt% of the PETEA-PEG copolymer catholyte achieved a high initial discharge capacity of 1236 mAh gS−1 at a C-rate of 0.1 and 80 °C.

Will reshoring manufacturing of advanced electric vehicle battery support renewable energy transition and climate targets?

Recent global logistics and geopolitical challenges draw attention to the potential raw material shortages for electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Here, we analyze the long-term energy and sustainability prospects to ensure a secure and resilient midstream and downstream value chain for the U.S. EV battery market amid uncertain market expansion and evolving battery technologies. With current battery technologies, reshoring and ally-shoring the midstream and downstream EV battery manufacturing will reduce the carbon footprint by 15% and energy use by 5 to 7%. While next-generation cobalt-free battery technologies will achieve up to 27% carbon emission reduction, transitioning to 54% less carbon-intensive blade lithium iron phosphate may diminish the mitigation benefits of supply chain restructuring. Our findings underscore the importance of adopting nickel from secondary sources and nickel-rich ores. However, the advantages of restructuring the U.S. EV battery supply chain depend on projected battery technology advancements.

Prospective Life Cycle Assessment of Lithium-Sulfur Batteries for Stationary Energy Storage

The lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery represents a promising next-generation battery technology because it can reach high energy densities without containing any rare metals besides lithium. These aspects could give Li-S batteries a vantage point from an environmental and resource perspective as compared to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Whereas LIBs are currently produced at a large scale, Li-S batteries are not. Therefore, prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to assess the environmental and resource scarcity impacts of Li-S batteries produced at a large scale for both a cradle-to-gate and a cradle-to-grave scope. Six scenarios were constructed to account for potential developments, with the overall aim of identifying parameters that reduce (future) environmental and resource impacts. The specific energy density and the type of electrolyte salt are the two most important parameters for reducing cradle-to-gate impacts, whereas for the cradle-to-grave scope, the electricity source, the cycle life, and, again, the specific energy density, are the most important. Additionally, we find that hydrometallurgical recycling of Li-S batteries could be beneficial for lowering mineral resource impacts but not necessarily for lowering other environmental impacts.

Lithium-ion transport enhancement with bridged ceramic-polymer interface

Ceramic/polymer composite solid electrolytes are emerging as a good strategy to improve the safety and the power density of next-generation battery technologies. This battery technology is, however, limited by the high interfacial resistance across the ceramic/polymer interface at room temperature. Herein, an efficient strategy was proposed to lower the interfacial resistance via building a “bridge” between polymer phase and ceramic phase in the prepared composite solid electrolyte (CSE) and increase its electrochemical window. The prepared composite solid electrolyte possessed a high ionic conductivity of 3.1 × 10−3 S cm−1 at room temperature via forming an extra high-speed Li-ion pathway between poly(vinyl ethylene carbonate) (PVEC) polymer phase and ceramic phase (LLZTO) by the aid of the formed chemical bonds and hydrogen bonds. Lithium symmetrical batteries based on CSE exhibit a reduced charge voltage polarization and cycled almost 1000 h at 0.1 mA/cm2 without the occurrence of short circuits. This “bridge” strategy provides an effective way to resolve the problem of high interfacial resistance and interface compatibility.

Role of Bicontinuous Structure in Elastomeric Electrolytes for High-Energy Solid-State Lithium-Metal Batteries.

Solid-state lithium (Li)-metal batteries (LMBs) are garnering attention as a next-generation battery technology that can surpass conventional Li-ion batteries in terms of energy density and operational safety under the condition that the issue of uncontrolled Li dendrite is resolved. In this study, various plastic crystal-embedded elastomer electrolytes (PCEEs) are investigated with different phase-separated structures, prepared by systematically adjusting the volume ratio of the phases, to elucidate the structure-property-electrochemical performance relationship of the PCEE in the LMBs. At an optimal volume ratio of elastomer phase to plastic-crystal phase (i.e., 1:1), bicontinuous-structured PCEE, consisting of efficient ion-conducting, plastic-crystal pathways with long-range connectivity within a crosslinked elastomer matrix, exhibits exceptionally high ionic conductivity (≈10-3 S cm-1 ) at 20 °C and excellent mechanical resilience (elongation at break ≈ 300%). A full cell featuring this optimized PCEE, a 35µm thick Li anode, and a high loading LiNi0.83 Mn0.06 Co0.11 O2 (NMC-83) cathode delivers a high energy density of 437Wh kganode+cathode+electrolyte -1 . The established structure-property-electrochemical performance relationship of the PCEE for solid-state LMBs is expected to inform the development of the elastomeric electrolytes for various electrochemical energy systems.