Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) researchers have developed a next-generation high-energy-density Lithium-ion battery system using micro silicon particles and gel polymer electrolytes. Researchers are fervently exploring the use of silicon, known for its high storage capacity, as the anode material in lithium-ion batteries for EVs. However, despite its potential, bringing silicon into practical use remains a puzzle that researchers are still working hard to piece together.

Enter Professor Soojin Park, PhD candidate Minjun Je, and Dr. Hye Bin Son from the Department of Chemistry at POSTECH whose research paper was published online in Advanced Science. They have discovered a solution, developing a pocket-friendly and rock-solid next-generation high-energy-density Li-ion battery system using micro silicon particles in the anode and gel polymer electrolytes.

Schematic illustration for in situ formation of electron beam-induced covalent linkage integrating silicon microparticle anode with multifunctional gel polymer electrolyte. Image Credit: Pohang University of Science and Technology. For more information and images click the link for the open access paper at Advanced Science.

Employing silicon as a battery material presents serious challenges: It expands by more than three times during charging and then contracts back to its original size while discharging, significantly impacting battery efficiency.

Utilizing nano-sized silicon (10-9m) partially addresses the issue, but the sophisticated production process is complex and astronomically expensive, making it a challenging budget proposition. By contrast, micro-sized silicon (10-6m) is superbly practical in terms of cost and energy density.

Yet, the expansion issue of the larger silicon particles becomes more pronounced during battery operation, posing limitations for its use as an anode material.

The research team applied gel polymer electrolytes to develop an economical yet stable silicon-based battery system.

The electrolyte within a lithium-ion battery is a crucial component, facilitating the movement of ions between the cathode and anode.

Unlike conventional liquid electrolytes, gel electrolytes exist in a solid or gel state, characterized by an elastic polymer structure that has better stability than their liquid counterparts do.

The research team employed an electron beam to form covalent linkages between micro-silicon particles and gel electrolytes. These covalent linkages serve to disperse internal stress caused by volume expansion during lithium-ion battery operation, alleviating the changes in micro silicon volume and enhancing structural stability.

The outcome was remarkable: The battery exhibited stable performance even with micro silicon particles (5μm), which were a hundred times larger than those used in traditional nano-silicon anodes.

Additionally, the silicon-gel electrolyte system developed by the research team exhibited ion conductivity similar to conventional batteries using liquid electrolytes, with an approximate 40% improvement in energy density.

Moreover, the team’s system holds significant value due to its straightforward manufacturing process that is ready for immediate application.

Professor Soojin Park stressed: “We used a micro-silicon anode, yet, we have a stable battery. This research brings us closer to a real high-energy-density lithium-ion battery system.”

This study was conducted with the support from the Independent Researcher Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea.

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This looks like the revolution that lithium-ion technology needs to stay out in front of the battery chemistry field.

There remains a lot of proving up to commit a factory production line to this technology. Foremost to consumers is going to be the discharge / recharge cycle life. If the cycle count is measured in the dozens this tech is finished at the start but if cycle length is thousands the picture changes completely.

Right now the best lithium ion batteries are good into about a thousand cycles at affordable prices. Most of those are in personal devise like cell phones laptops and tablets.

But double the cycle count or more would have a very strong effect and drive a large demand.

The other big question is the fire hazard. The current lithium-ion tech is fairly well understood. In this new tech its totally unknown. More same less? The fire issue matters.

Then there is the temperature concern. Consumers finally got the info on lithium-ion this winter. Is gel better, worse?

It will be a while if or before this tech makes it into the market. Lets hope is makes it solving the problems of current tech. A dead laptop in a dead EV on a cold January day truly is a dreadful experience.

U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers make their case that millions of U.S. households would benefit from heat pumps. But the cost of installing the technology needs to come down to make their use a more attractive proposition.

The findings, detailed in the journal Joule, quantify the costs and benefits of air-source heat pumps across the United States and consider various climates, heating sources, and types of homes.

The researchers based their conclusions on simulations of 550,000 statistically representative households. Their analysis considered such factors as the performance of different heat pumps and whether additional steps to upgrade the insulation had occurred.

The analysis revealed a majority of Americans (62% to 95% of households, depending upon heat pump efficiency) would see a drop in their energy bills by using a heat pump.

Improving the weatherization of a home, such as by installing better insulation, would increase the range to 82% to 97%. However, due to high installation costs, heat pumps may only be financially feasible for a smaller portion of households.

Eric Wilson, a senior research engineer in the Buildings Technologies and Science Center at NREL and lead author of the paper ‘Heat pumps for all? Distributions of costs and benefits of residential air-source heat pumps in the United States’ explained, “There are millions of people who would benefit from putting in heat pumps, and there are incentives made available through the Inflation Reduction Act, both tax credits and rebates, that millions of households can benefit from. But what this paper shows is that there are still millions more households for whom the technology is still pretty expensive, and we need work to bring down the cost of installing heat pumps.”

His co-authors are Prateek Munankarmi, Janet Reyna, and Stacey Rothgeb, all from NREL; and Brennan Less from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Because heat pumps provide both heating and air conditioning, homeowners who do not already have air conditioning benefit from additional comfort, but that comes with an additional cost.

The researchers also noted installers who lack experience with heat pumps may also charge higher prices “to cover the hassle and risk of working with unfamiliar equipment and sizing procedures.”

Nationally, the researchers calculated, heat pumps would cut home site energy use by 31% to 47% on average, depending on its efficiency level, and 41% to 52% when combined with building upgrades such as better insulation.

The big difference between energy savings and energy cost savings is because natural gas prices are much lower than electricity prices on a Btu basis in many parts of the country.

The housing characteristics that had the largest bearing on savings were the heating fuel type and the presence of air conditioning.

For the 49 million homes that use electricity, fuel oil, or propane for heat and have air conditioning, 92% to 100% of homes would see energy bill savings, with median savings of $300 to $650 a year depending on heat pump efficiency.

Co-author Munankarmi said the savings were most significant in colder climates. Additionally, he said, homeowners can “save thousands of dollars on average” by putting in a smaller heat pump if they first have taken steps to improve the energy efficiency of their dwellings.

The researchers also found that installation of a heat pump prompted greenhouse gas emissions to decline in every state, but the drop was especially large when it replaced a heating system that had been powered by fossil fuels.

Nationally, heat pumps would cut residential sector greenhouse gas emissions by 36%-64%, including the emissions from new electricity generation.

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This looks like a government promo job. Where heat pumps are common the electric utilities have major incentives that make it work in direct competition to the natural gas utilities. It looks like a carbon war battle.

There are so many ways to do these calculations. Ultimately, a house needs so many BTUs to maintain an interior comfort level. The lowest cost BTUs, from a selected natural gas furnace or electrical watt made BTUs through a selected heat pump will determine the practicality. Until the incentives change – again.

It’s a political game that consumers in the U.S. face. Remember, its real hard to burn natural gas at a power plant to generate electricity and run the electricity out to your home more efficiently than a high efficiency natural gas furnace heating directly in the home.

Even worse is the scenario where the utility goes off line and you have to heat (or not) on your own. A standby generator energizing a fan and igniter is way less demanding than a heat pump.

Think through what is best for you, not the most politically sold idea.

An Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) research team has reported a groundbreaking development in efficient hydrogen storage.

The groundbreaking development in efficient hydrogen storage has been reported by Professor Hyunchul Oh in the Department of Chemistry at UNIST, in the journal Nature Chemistry so marking a significant advancement in future energy systems.

The innovative research focuses around a nanoporous magnesium borohydride structure (Mg(BH₄)₂), showcasing the remarkable capability to store hydrogen at high densities even under normal atmospheric pressure.

The structure of magnesium borohydride and its high-density hydrogen adsorption state. Image Credit: Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology. For more information and images click the open access paper at Nature Chemistry.

The research team, under the leadership of Professor Oh, has successfully tackled the challenge of low hydrogen storage capacity by leveraging advanced high-density adsorption technology.

Through the synthesis of a nanoporous complex hydride comprising magnesium hydride, solid boron hydride (BH4)2, and magnesium cation (Mg+), the material as developed enables the storage of five hydrogen molecules in a three-dimensional arrangement, achieving unprecedented high-density hydrogen storage.

The reported material exhibits an impressive hydrogen storage capacity of 144 g/L per volume of pores, surpassing traditional methods, such as storing hydrogen as a gas in a liquid state (70.8 g/L). Additionally, the density of hydrogen molecules within the material exceeds that of the solid state, highlighting the efficiency of this novel storage approach.

Professor Oh emphasized the significance of this breakthrough, stating, “Our innovative material represents a paradigm shift in the realm of hydrogen storage, offering a compelling alternative to traditional approaches.” This transformative development not only enhances the efficiency and economic viability of hydrogen energy utilization but also addresses critical challenges in large-scale hydrogen storage for public transportation applications.

This research was made possible through the Mid-Career Research Program by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) and the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT).

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Its quite a challenge to conceptualize a storage of the universe’s smallest atom and keeping it in place by a mechanical means. But it does look like the Korean team found a way. The prospects look quite good, the report has made it into a Nature journal.

The fact of its economic value isn’t discussed to no surprise, its new right now technology. The costs involved are unknown. But one hopes the production costs won’t stillborn the idea.

There’s going to be more to this over time. The attributes of hydrogen are about as challenging as one could imagine for safety. Mass marketed hydrogen seriously puts knowledgeable folks on edge. If this tech gets dihydrogen gas storage to the same level as say propane (aka LPG) at a price that makes sense then the hydrogen economy might get to be a large niche market.

University of Liverpool researchers have discovered a solid electrolyte material that rapidly conducts lithium ions. The discovery of new Li ion conductor unlocks a new direction for sustainable batteries.

The discovery is discussed in a paper published in the journal Science.

Consisting of non-toxic earth-abundant elements, the new material has high enough lithium ion conductivity to replace the liquid electrolytes in current lithium ion battery technology, improving safety and energy capacity. Such lithium electrolytes are essential components in the rechargeable batteries that power electric vehicles and many electronic devices. The research team have synthesized the material in the laboratory, determined its structure and demonstrated it in a battery cell.

The image represents the lithium ions (in blue) moving through the solid state electrolyte structure. Image Credit: University of Liverpool. Click the press release link for the largest image.

The new material is one of a very small number of solid materials that achieve lithium ion conductivity high enough to replace liquid electrolytes, and operates in a new way because of its structure.

Its discovery was achieved through a collaborative computational and experimental workflow that used AI and physics-based calculations to support decisions made by chemistry experts at the University.

The new material provides a platform for the optimization of chemistry to further enhance the properties of the material itself, and to identify other materials based on the new understanding provided by the study.

Professor Matt Rosseinsky, from the University of Liverpool’s Department of Chemistry, said, “This research demonstrates the design and discovery of a material that is both new and functional. The structure of this material changes 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.”

Recent reports and media coverage herald the use of AI tools to find potentially new materials.

In these cases, the AI tools are working independently and thus are likely to recreate what they were trained on in various ways, generating materials that may be very similar to known ones.

“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,” he added. “Our disruptive design approach offers a new route to discovery of these and other high-performance materials that rely on the fast motion of ions in solids.”

The study undertaken was a combined effort between researchers in University of Liverpool’s Department of Chemistry, Materials Innovation Factory, Leverhulme Research Centre for Functional Materials Design, Stephenson Institute for Renewable Energy, Albert Crewe Centre, and School of Engineering. It was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Leverhulme Trust, and the Faraday Institution.

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This technology has been a very long time coming. While not fully tested out yet it is a major improvement for lithium ion technology.

Better still is that the press release came out with a mention of some lab info plus a built test cell.

Congratulations to this team!! It looks like a major breakthrough!

A National Institute for Materials Science, Japan research team has developed an AI technique capable of expediting the identification of materials with desirable characteristics. Using this technique, the team was able to discover high-performance water electrolyzer electrode materials free of platinum-group elements – substances previously thought to be indispensable in water electrolysis. These materials may be used to reduce the cost of large-scale production of green hydrogen – a next-generation energy source.

The paper reporting the work has been published in ACS Central Science.

Large-scale production of green hydrogen using water electrolyzers is hoped to be a viable means of achieving carbon neutrality.

An efficient Artificial Intelligence method for identifying electrocatalysts with desirable functionality. Image Credit: National Institute for Materials Science, Japan. Both the press release and the open access study paper offer considerably more information and images.

Currently available water electrolyzers rely on expensive, scarce platinum-group elements as their main electrocatalyst components to accelerate the slow oxygen evolution reaction (OER) – an electrolytic water reaction that can produce hydrogen.

To address this issue, research is underway to develop platinum-group-free, cheaper OER electrocatalysts composed of relatively abundant chemical elements compatible with large-scale green hydrogen production.

However, identifying the optimum chemical compositions of such electrocatalysts from an infinitely large number of possible combinations had been found to be enormously costly, time-consuming and labor-intensive.

This NIMS research team recently developed an AI technique capable of accurately predicting the compositions of materials with desirable characteristics by switching prediction models depending on the sizes of the datasets available for analysis.

Using this AI, the team was able to identify new, effective OER electrocatalytic materials from about 3,000 candidate materials in just a single month.

For reference, manual, comprehensive evaluation of these 3,000 materials was estimated to take almost six years.

These newly discovered electrocatalytic materials can be synthesized using only relatively cheap and abundant metallic elements: manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn) and silver (Ag). Experiments found that under certain conditions, these electrocatalytic materials exhibit superior electrochemical properties to ruthenium (Ru) oxides – the existing electrocatalytic materials with the highest OER activity known.

In Earth’s crust, Ag is the least abundant element among those constituting the newly discovered electrocatalytic materials.

However, its crustal abundance is nearly 100 times that of Ru, indicating that these new electrocatalytic materials can be synthesized in sufficiently large amounts to enable hydrogen mass-production using water electrolyzers.

These results demonstrated that this AI technique could be used to expand the limits of human intelligence and dramatically accelerate the search for higher-performance materials.

Using the technique, the team plans to expedite its efforts to develop new materials — mainly water electrolyzer electrode materials – in order to improve the efficiency of various electrochemical devices contributing to carbon neutrality.

This project was carried out by a NIMS research team led by Ken Sakaushi (Principal Researcher) and Ryo Tamura (Team Leader). This work was conducted in conjunction with another project entitled, “High throughput search for seawater electrolysis catalysts by combining automated experiments with data science” (grant number: JPMJMI21EA) under the JST-Mirai Program mission area, “low carbon society.”

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One is a bit troubled by not seeing an alloy listed or a lab test run. The materials might need synthesized and tested perhaps? The press release seems to be a conclusion without a hard fact.

Let’s hope the “discoveries” are factual truths. After last week’s AI news, AI isn’t building up any confidence just yet. Folks need to remember that an AI and a person’s mind, just like computers have been since their beginning, only function with what information is at hand. If there is garbage in there at the start – garbage is what comes out.

One does hope this is a home run, but much more needs tested and revealed.


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