The Future of Battery Technology: Silicon Anode, Graphene, Aluminum Oxygen Batteries

Sep 14 - 2023

lithium battery

Electric technology is the future of the green earth, battery technology is the foundation of electric technology, but also the key to constrain the large-scale development of electric technology. The current mainstream battery technology is lithium-ion battery, with good energy density and high efficiency. But lithium is a rare element, high cost and limited resources.best lithium ion battery machine company At the same time, with the increasing use of renewable energy, the energy density of lithium-ion batteries is no longer enough. How to cope?

The planet is full of energy right now, and we're doing our best to capture and utilize that energy.equipment for lithium battery assembly While we are doing a much better job of moving to renewable energy sources, we have not made much progress in storing energy.

The current top standard in battery technology is the lithium-ion battery. These batteries seem to have the best energy density, high efficiency, and long life.

So what's the problem with lithium-ion batteries?

As we get more and more renewable energy, the energy density of lithium-ion batteries is not enough.

Since the batteries can be mass produced continuously, it doesn't seem like a big deal, but the problem is that lithium is a relatively rare metal, so it doesn't cost much. While the cost of producing batteries is coming down, the need for energy storage is also increasing rapidly.

We've reached the point where a battery that replaces lithium-ion with a gram of power would have a huge impact on the energy industry.

It is a fact that fossil fuels are much more energy dense, and this is a huge influence in hindering the transition to complete reliance on renewable energy. We need batteries that release more energy than their own weight.

How do lithium-ion batteries work?

Lithium-ion batteries work like regular AA or AAA chemical batteries. They have an anode, a cathode and an electrolyte. Unlike ordinary batteries, the discharge reaction in lithium-ion batteries is reversible, so the battery can be recharged repeatedly.

The cathode (the + end) is made of lithium iron(II) phosphate and the anode (the - end) is made of graphite, which is made of carbon. Electricity is simply the flow of electrons. These batteries generate electricity by moving lithium ions between the anode and cathode.

During charging, the ions move to the anode and during discharging, the ions move to the cathode. This movement of ions causes electrons to move through the circuit, so the movement of lithium ions is related to the movement of electrons.

Silicon Anode Batteries

Many major automotive companies have been investing in the development of silicon anode batteries. Just like regular lithium-ion batteries, these batteries use lithium anodes, but they use silicon instead of carbon-based anodes.

The main reason that silicon works better than graphite as an anode is that we need 4 carbon atoms between them to hold lithium, whereas 1 silicon atomic structure can hold 4 lithium ions . This is due to a major technological upgrade ...... that makes silicon 3 times more powerful than graphite.

Nevertheless, lithium is still a double-edged sword. The material is still expensive, but it's easier to move production facilities to silicon cells. If the cells were completely different, the plant would have to be completely redesigned, which would make the switch slightly less appealing.

Silicon anodes are made by processing sand to produce pure silicon, but the biggest problem researchers are currently facing is that silicon anodes will expand when used. This would cause the battery to degrade too quickly. In addition, it is difficult to mass produce anodes.

Graphene batteries

Graphene is a thin sheet of carbon made from the same material as a pencil, but gluing graphite to a thin sheet of carbon is expensive. Graphene has been lauded for its excellent performance in many use cases, batteries being one of them.

Several companies are working on graphene batteries that can be fully charged in minutes and discharged 33 times faster than lithium-ion batteries. This could be of great value for electric vehicles.

Foam batteries

Currently, conventional batteries are a two-dimensional. They are either stackable like lithium-ion batteries or rolled up like typical AA or lithium-ion power cell technology.

Foam batteries, on the other hand, are a completely new concept that involves the movement of charge in three dimensions.

This three-dimensional structure allows for faster charging times and higher energy densities, qualities that are extremely important in batteries. In contrast to most other batteries, foam batteries do not have harmful liquid electrolytes.

Instead of a liquid electrolyte, foam batteries use a solid electrolyte. This electrolyte not only conducts lithium ions, but also insulates it from other electronic devices.

The anode that holds the negative charge of the battery is made of copper foam coated with the desired active substance.

A solid electrolyte is then coated around the anode. Finally, a paste called a "front paste" is used to fill the gap in the battery.

Aluminum-oxygen batteries

These affect the energy density of the battery and are one of our biggest issues within all battery systems. They are more powerful and lighter than current lithium-ion power cells. It has been claimed that with these for battery technology you can get 2000 kilometers of range out of an electric new energy vehicle. What is this a relevant concept? As a primary reference, the Tesla has a maximum range of about 600 kilometers.

The problem with these batteries is that they don't recharge. They produce aluminum hydroxide and release energy by reacting aluminum and oxygen in a water-based electrolyte. The use of the battery consumes the aluminum used as an anode.

Sodium Batteries

Japanese scientists are currently working on making batteries with sodium instead of lithium.

This would be disruptive because sodium batteries are theoretically seven times more efficient than lithium batteries. Another big advantage is that sodium is the sixth most abundant element on earth, while lithium is relatively scarce.


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By:Beatrice