A123 Systems has announced an agreement with Argonne National Laboratory to collaborate on a three-year, multi-million-dollar cathode development program that will focus on improving cathode safety without compromising energy density or battery life. A123 will leverage its battery expertise to commercialize advances in nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) technology originally developed by Argonne, which already… Read more »
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New catalyst advances lithium-air battery tech
Images from Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) show catalyzed cells exhibiting longer cycle life than uncatalyzed cells under similar cycling conditions. Credit: Ates, M. N., et al. (2016) Lithium-air batteries, which have the highest theoretical energy density of all known battery devices, could revolutionize the energy economy. However, there are several technical challenges to… Read more »
Using fungi to recycle Li-ion batteries
As rechargeable batteries proliferate in everything from cars to smartphones, recycling is becoming a critical issue. Now a team of researchers at the University of South Florida has found a way to use naturally occurring fungi to extract cobalt and lithium from waste batteries. The scientists presented their work at a recent meeting of the… Read more »
Johnson Matthey and 3M complete NMC patent license agreement
Johnson Matthey and 3M have entered into a patent license agreement that aims to expand the use of nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cathode materials in lithium-ion batteries. 3M has granted Johnson Matthey a license to several of its NMC-related technologies. Cathodes composed of nickel, manganese and cobalt offer a balance of power, energy, thermal stability and cost,… Read more »
Researchers use nanolithia to improve efficiency and longevity of lithium-air batteries
Lithium-air, or lithium-oxygen, has been touted as the ultimate battery technology, because its theoretical energy density is ten times that of current lithium-ion solutions. However, scientists have struggled to overcome major challenges with the technology. The batteries waste a lot of energy as heat, degrade relatively quickly, and often require extra components to pump oxygen… Read more »
Elon Musk debunks scare stories about a shortage of lithium
Elon Musk and JB Straubel covered a lot of ground in a nearly-three-hour performance at Tesla’s 2016 annual shareholder meeting. They recapped the history of the company, explained why Supercharging will not be free for Model 3 buyers, and discussed their plans to remake the auto production process. They also made some very interesting remarks… Read more »
Two-level cathode structure improves battery performance
As the search for a better battery grinds on, a lot of the attention is focused on potential cathode materials. Nickel is one possibility that shows a lot of promise – its drawback is that it is unstable and tends to have destructive reactions with the electrolyte. Now a team of scientists from the Brookhaven… Read more »
New electrolyte for solid-state batteries combines polymer and glass
Scientists at the DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a novel electrolyte that addresses many of the problems of solid electrolytes by combining the two primary types – polymer and glass. There are two kinds of solid electrolytes – polymer and glass or ceramic – and each has its own set of challenges. Polymer… Read more »
Bombardier battery-powered tram makes record test run
Bombardier Transportation has successfully completed a 26-mile catenary-free test run in the German city of Mannheim using a tram, powered by Bombardier’s PRIMOVE battery and MITRAC (Modular Integrated TRACtion) system. The PRIMOVE system features batteries provided by the German firm AKASOL, and use nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) Li-ion cells. A thermal conditioning unit maintains the… Read more »
Is Nissan teasing details of 2nd generation LEAF?
Nissan recently invited a small group of journalists to its Advanced Technology Center in Atsugi, near Tokyo, ostensibly to show them the IDS concept vehicle now on display at the Tokyo Motor Show. However, Bertel Schmitt, an old Japan hand, soon surmised that the reporters were looking at “the future Nissan LEAF in drag,” and… Read more »