Ultra-fast charging EVs: New battery anodes deliver high performance after 2500 cycles
The team has developed new materials for more powerful and longer-lasting batteries.
Scientists have developed high-performance anodes for lithium and sodium-ion batteries with an exceptionally high charging speed and stability. The innovation can lead to safer and longer-lasting energy storage systems.
Researchers at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) revealed that conventional energy materials rely on highly ordered crystal structures to provide predictable pathways for ion transport.
However, such perfection often comes at the cost of structural rigidity, limited ion mobility, and poor performance at high charge rates.
Targeted disorder can enhance ionic conductivity
Researchers, in two new studies published in Nature Communications and Advanced Materials, revealed that the targeted disorder – not order – can enhance ionic conductivity, increase cycling stability, and unlock novel storage mechanisms of batteries.
Professor Nicola Pinna, from the Department of Chemistry at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU), says:
Our results show that targeted imperfection can be a powerful tool in material design
Dr. Patrícia Russo, from the Department of Chemistry at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU), said:
By deliberately breaking the atomic order, we are opening up completely new avenues for more powerful, longer-lasting and therefore more sustainable high-performance batteries,
Approach could redefine material design strategies
By shifting away from the conventional design rules, the team’s approach could redefine material design strategies across the field.
The team has developed new materials for more powerful and longer-lasting batteries through structural disorder in niobium-tungsten oxides and controlled amorphisation – this describes the transition of the material to a disordered state – in iron niobate. A particularly durable material has been produced for lithium-ion batteries, according to a press release.
High storage capacity and a long service life
Researchers revealed that even after 1,000 charging cycles, a large proportion of the original performance is retained.
A new type of material has also been developed for sodium-ion batteries, a more environmentally friendly alternative.
It changes significantly when first charged, but retains important structures. This results in a very high storage capacity and a long service life of over 2,600 charging cycles with almost the same performance, according to HU researchers.
Published in Advanced Materials, the study reveals that for the first time, an iron niobate is reported with a columbite structure as a high-performance sodium storage anode.
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The presence of iron triggers the loss of long-range order through disorder of the FeO6 octahedra local structure, subsequently allowing reversible sodium storage in an amorphous phase.
Researchers, in the study, said:
Simultaneously, the formation of short-range ordered zigzag-chain structures within the NbO6 planes creates a “skeleton” that offers abundant active sites for pseudocapacitive ion storage and enhanced ion diffusion pathways
The research team also highlighted that the combination of disordered lithium anodes and amorphous sodium anodes opens up new perspectives for ultra-fast charging electric vehicles, stationary storage solutions for renewable energies, and safe alternatives to previous battery technologies.
The studies underline the potential of atomic design principles to solve global energy problems.
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