Manganese cathodes could boost lithium-ion battery performance
Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are increasingly being used in devices such as smartphones, laptops, electric vehicles and energy storage systems, but supplies of nickel and cobalt, which are often used in the positive electrodes of these batteries, are limited.
New research led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) opens the door to a low-cost, safe alternative to manganese, the fifth most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust. Researchers have shown that manganese can be effectively used in an emerging cathode material called disordered rock salt (DRX).
Previous studies had suggested that to work well, DRX materials would need to be ground into nano-sized particles in an energy-intensive process, but the new study finds that manganese-based cathodes can actually perform well with particles that are about 1,000 times larger than expected.
The research was published September 19 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
“There are lots of ways to generate electricity from renewable energy, but the key is how to store it,” said Han-Min Hau, a doctoral student at the University of California, Berkeley who studies battery technology in Berkeley Lab’s Seder group.
“By applying our new approach, we can use materials that are earth abundant, low cost and require less energy and time to manufacture than commercially available lithium-ion battery cathode materials, while still storing the same amount of energy and performing similarly.”
The researchers used a new process that first removes the lithium ions from the cathode material, then heats it at low temperature (about 200 °C), which takes two days to complete — in contrast to existing processes for manganese-based DRX materials, which can take more than three weeks to complete.
Using state-of-the-art electron microscopes, the researchers were able to capture atomic-scale images of the manganese-based material at work, and found that after applying this process, the material formed nanoscale semi-ordered structures that indeed improved the performance of the battery, allowing it to store and deliver energy at a high density.
The team also used a variety of X-ray-based techniques to study what chemical changes battery cycling causes to manganese and oxygen at a macroscopic level. By studying how manganese materials behave at different scales, the team pioneered different methods for creating manganese-based cathodes and insights into the nanoengineering of future battery materials.
“We now have a deeper understanding of this material’s unique nanostructure,” Howe said, “and we understand the synthesis process that induces the material’s ‘phase change’ and improves its electrochemical performance. This is a critical step in moving this material closer to real-world battery applications.”
Further information: Han-Ming Hau et al., “Earth-abundant lithium-ion cathode materials with nanoengineered microstructures,” Nature Nanotechnology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41565-024-01787-y
Courtesy of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Source: Manganese cathodes boost lithium-ion battery performance (September 25, 2024) Retrieved September 25, 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2024-09-manganese-cathodes-boost-lithium-ion.html
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