Advent Of Novel Electrolytes To Hold The Future Of Demand For Battery Metal

Over the last couple of years, battery technology has witnessed significant updates due to the ever-growing power demand, need for portable consumer electronics. In addition, the increasing adoption of renewable but variable power generation has increased the demand for battery metal more than ever.

According to Allied Market Research, the battery metal market is expected to reach $20.5 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 8.2% from 2020 to 2027. That’s because of surge in demand for smartphones, tablets, and other electronic devices and increase in demand for fully-electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles.

Developments in the battery metal market

Risks in the cobalt supply chain have open new opportunities in battery development. Reducing the cobalt content has been a focus for the majority of several battery manufacturers since their adoption. The evolution of nickel-cobalt-aluminum battery designs and use of metals has led to improved battery capacity and increase in range of electronic vehicles. In addition, the use of nickel-cobalt-aluminum batteries in Tesla’s vehicles showcase reduced cobalt content, which is beneficial in response to cobalt-sourcing risks and concerns. Other battery technologies are also in the middle of major developments.

For instance, a new discovery is expected to make a drastic impact on future battery cathodes. As per the paper published in Nature Energy states that a team of researchers has successfully identified the nature of oxidized oxygen in Li-rich Nickel-manganese-cobalt, or NMC battery material using resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering at a diamond light source. The compound is now considered for the implementation of next-generation Li-ion batteries as it can offer higher energy density compared to existing materials. Moreover, it could offer a longer driving range for electronic vehicles.

The use of Li-based cathode materials is the most effective way to improve the energy density of Li-ion batteries. The majority of the lithium in these batteries can be removed and compensated by oxidation of transition metal ions. But the high voltage associated with the O-redox process on charge leads to voltage hysteresis and loss of energy density. This is the major challenge against exploring the complete potential of these materials. However, the study shows the use of HR RIXS spectroscopy at beamline I21 at Diamond to monitor the O-redox process. The study offers a new mechanism for explaining the O-redox process and represents a vital step in the development of battery materials.

Launch of new battery electrolyte

Stanford University scientists recently invented a novel Li-based electrolyte that could be the future of next-gen battery-powered electric vehicles. As per the recently published study, Stanford researchers show how their novel electronic design improves the performance of lithium metal batteries, which are an essential part of consumer electronics.

Apart from this, most of the existing electronic vehicles run on Li-ion batteries, which rapidly approach their limit on energy density. However, the study focuses on lithium metal batteries that are significantly lighter than Li-ion batteries and could offer more energy per unit weight and volume. Moreover, the study showed that lithium metal batteries could hold twice as much electricity per kilogram compared to conventional Li-ion batteries. However, an electrolyte for lithium metal batteries has been a subject of concern for researchers for decades.

The newly developed electrolyte solves the dendrite problem of lithium metal batteries by adding fluorine atoms onto the electrolyte. The electrolytes when using lithium metal batteries showed incredible performance. Researchers state that there are a variety of metals that could be used in an electrolyte to improve its performance. For now, they have figured out one of the potential metals but there are many other possibilities yet to explore. 

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