How About Nano Lithium Batteries?

Nanomaterials are used to improve the electrochemical performance of lithium ion battery anode materials with obvious effects. Nanomaterials used in lithium-ion batteries, although for electrodes with large volume changes during charging and discharging, the problem of electrode powdering can be greatly reduced and the cycle characteristics of electrodes with larger dimensions are significantly improved.

Jianyu Huang of Sandia National Laboratory in the United States and his research team claimed to have successfully developed the world’s smallest lithium-ion battery, which was manufactured under a projection electron microscope at the Center for Inductive Nanotechnology (CINT). of.

The anode of the nano-lithium battery consists of a tin dioxide nanowire with a diameter of 100nm and a length of 10μm, which is only 1/7000th of a human hair. The nano-battery is also composed of a 3mm-long lithium cobalt oxide cathode and an ionic liquid electrolyte. , Complete the "assembly" under the projection electron microscope.

Developers originally hoped to use it to deeply understand the atomic structure changes of lithium batteries during charging and discharging, so as to find ways to improve the output power and energy density of lithium-ion batteries. In the study, they unexpectedly discovered that the length of the tin dioxide nanowires almost doubled during the charging process, rather than the width stretched as previously predicted. Such findings can help improve lithium battery planning and prevent internal short circuits that can shorten battery life.

The study found the previously unknown changes in the anode of the nano-lithium battery before and after charging.

Jianyu Huang, who is in charge of the research project, said that the ultra-miniature battery manufacturing method they developed can stimulate more research on the manufacture of micro-batteries, so as to have a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms that control battery performance and reliability. Nanowire-based lithium-ion batteries will be significantly improved in charge density and energy efficiency compared to existing lithium batteries. In the future, hybrid vehicles, notebooks, mobile phones and other lithium battery products may benefit.

Since most of the research of nanomaterials is currently in the laboratory stage, nanomaterials are prone to agglomeration. Therefore, how to prepare nanoparticle with controllable particle size and solve the agglomeration problem of these particles during storage and transportation needs further research.