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Environment & Energy

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OKIsItJustMe

(21,030 posts)
Tue Dec 10, 2024, 01:57 PM Dec 10

New type of battery could outlast EVs and still be used for grid energy storage [View all]

https://www.lightsource.ca/public/news/2024-25-q2-oct-dec/new-type-of-battery-could-outlast-evs-and-still-be-used-for-grid-energy-storage.php
New type of battery could outlast EVs and still be used for grid energy storage
Inside of battery with single crystal electrode still like new after 20,000 cycles -- the equivalent of powering an EV 8 million kms

By GREG BASKY
Dec 9, 2024

There’s a big push underway to increase the lifespan of lithium-ion batteries powering EVs on the road today. By law, in the US, these cells must be able to hold 80% of their original full charge after eight years of operation.

However, many industry experts believe we need batteries that last decades – so that once they’re no longer robust enough for use in EVs, we can put them to use in “second-life applications” – such as bundling them together to store wind and solar energy to power the electrical grid.

Video: New type of battery could outlast EVs, still be used for grid energy storage

Researchers from Dalhousie University used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan to analyze a new type of lithium-ion battery material – called a single-crystal electrode – that’s been charging and discharging non-stop in a Halifax lab for more than six years. It lasted more than 20,000 cycles before it hit the 80% capacity cutoff. That translates to driving a jaw-dropping 8 million kms. As part of the study, the researchers compared the new type of battery – which has only recently come to market – to a regular lithium-ion battery that lasted 2,400 cycles before it reached the 80% cutoff.



Bond attributes the near absence of degradation in the new style battery to the difference in the shape and behaviour of the particles that make up the battery electrodes. In the regular battery, the battery electrodes are made up of tiny particles up to 50 times smaller than the width of a hair. If you zoom in on these particles, they are composed of even tinier crystals that are bunched together like snowflakes in a snowball. The single crystal is, as its name implies, one big crystal: it’s more like an ice cube. “If you have a snowball in one hand, and an ice cube in the other, it’s a lot easier to crush the snowball,” says Bond. “The ice cube is much more resistant to mechanical stress and strain.”

http://dx.doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/ad88a8
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