University Of Liverpool’s researchers proudly announced its latest breakthrough in battery technology, a new li-ion conductor that can potentially replace vulnerable liquid electrolytes.
Issues associated with liquid electrolytes
An electrolyte is a crucial battery component that transmits ions (charge-carrying particles) back and forth from the battery’s two electrodes. It basically supports the battery’s charging and discharging process.
However, using liquid electrolytes in li-ion batteries restricts lithium ions’ movement speed. It also restrains the temperature range over which the battery can function.
It also poses safety concerns, including the risk of explosion or fire. Even under ideal operating situations, battery-induced heat is inevitable. Increasing battery temperature tends to provoke several undesirable parasitic outcomes, leading to thermal runaway. For context, it is an alarming circumstance where battery heat generation becomes uncontrollable, making it more critical for the industry to explore safer battery chemistries.
About the groundbreaking discovery
The England-based researchers claim to have discovered an innovative solid material that can swiftly transfer lithium ions. It apparently has non-toxic, earth-abundant elements. More importantly, it boasts high li-ion conductivity sufficient to replace liquid electrolytes in li-ion batteries available in the market today.
The potential replacement of liquid electrolytes can potentially improve safety and energy capacity, as per the paper published in the journal Science.
“This research demonstrates the design and discovery of a material that is both new and functional. The structure of this material changes the previous understanding of what a high-performance solid-state electrolyte looks like. Specifically, solids with many different environments for the mobile ions can perform very well, not just the small number of solids where there is a very narrow range of ionic environments. This dramatically opens up the chemical space available for further discoveries.”
Professor Matt Rosseinsky, from the University of Liverpool’s Department of Chemistry
AI and collaborative research significance
The researchers’ visionary solid material is one of the few solid materials that reach high li-ion conductivity enough to take over the prevalence of liquid electrolytes in the battery space. It also functions innovatively, owing to its structure.
This new breakthrough highlights the importance of AI and collaborative research to back the decisions of chemistry experts at the University. It paves the way for further battery chemistry optimization to improve the material’s properties and determine new materials based on the latest insights presented by the study.
“…this discovery research paper shows that AI and computers marshaled by experts can tackle the complex problem of real-world materials discovery, where we seek meaningful differences in composition and structure whose impact on properties is assessed based on understanding.
Our disruptive design approach offers a new route to discovering these and other high-performance materials that rely on the fast motion of ions in solids.”
Professor Matt Rosseinsky, from the University of Liverpool’s Department of Chemistry
All that said, battery makers and researchers must continuously collaborate in exploring safer battery technologies, especially for heavy applications like electric vehicles.
