Indian Institute technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), in association with Japan Advanced Institute of Science and technology (JAIST) has invented a new anode material that enables lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) to be recharged in minutes. This means that anyone will soon be able to charge your battery-based gadgets or even electric vehicles at ultra-fast speeds.
Currently, graphite and lithium titanate are among the most widely used anode materials in commercially available lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) that power laptops, mobile phones and electric vehicles. LIBs with graphite anodes, which have high energy density, can drive an electric vehicle for hundreds of kilometers in a single charge cycle. However, they have their share of challenges on the safety front as they are prone to fire hazards. Lithium titanate anodes are the safer and more preferred option, and they also feature fast charging. But, they have a lower energy density, which means they will require more frequent recharging, says IIT.
New two-dimensional (2D) anode materials have been developed using nanosheets derived from titanium diboride (TiB2), a material that resembles a multi-stacked sandwich, where metal atoms intersect between layers of boron. are present. An edge in features enabled by nanosheet-based anode materials include:
– Ultra-fast charging time (full charge in minutes)
– Long cycle life (10,000 cycles at high charge currents)
The nanosheets that are used to prepare the anode have a high density of pores. While the planar nature and chemistry of the nanosheets provide a high surface area to capture Li ions, the pores enable better diffusion of the ions
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The research teams from IITGN and JAIST have aimed to develop a material for the anode that not only enables faster charging of the battery but also facilitates longer life. Another key idea of the team was that the material should be such that it could be synthesized in a simply scalable way so that it could replace existing technology.
The research team also found that this anode had ultra-fast charging capability with considerable discharge capacity at high capacity retention (up to 80 percent even after 10,000 cycles of operation), meaning that batteries made from this material would give approx. Same high performance even after over 10,000 charging cycles.
In addition, there was no degradation or degradation of THNS due to redox reactions, the porosity is also maintained very well, and it is structural with very little volumetric expansion (less than 40 percent) over thousands of charge-discharge cycles. Demonstrates stability.
Explaining the high efficiency of the new new battery material, Akash Verma, an MTech student who is also the first author of this work, says, “It is the presence of titanium and boron atoms arranged in a carpet-like intertwined porous structure. nanosheets that are helping in an efficient charge transport and storage.”
Professor Kabir Jasuja, Dr Dinesh O Shah Chair Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering, IITGN, says, “What makes this work particularly useful is that the method to synthesize TiB2 nanosheets is inherently scalable. It only requires adding TiB2 particles to an aqueous solution of dilute hydrogen peroxide and allowing it to crystallize again. For turning any nanomaterial into a tangible technology, scalability is the limiting factor. Our method of synthesizing these TiB2 nanosheets requires only stirring and no sophisticated equipment, making it highly adoptable.”
Shedding more light on the need for this innovation, Professor Norioshi Matsumi, Professor of Materials Chemistry, JAIST, says, “Nowadays, the need for high rate charge-discharge technology to enable the widespread commercialization of various types of electrics is increasing significantly. future vehicles. Our findings may encourage related research areas to invite more researchers to work on the application of unique 2D materials.”
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