CR2016 battery

Researchers develop new electrode material to improve CR2016 battery charge capacity

Lithium batteries hold great promise for many applications, including electric vehicles, but are often too expensive, according to a team of researchers in Japan. The team, led by Naoaki Yabuuchi, a professor at Yokohama National University, has developed a new electrode material that could make lithium batteries not only cheaper, but also longer-lasting and more energy dense. The results were published online March 25 in Materials Today.

Many researchers have successfully improved the ability of batteries to hold a charge, but have not yet improved the amount of charge that a battery can disperse in a useful way -- such as to power an electric car for longer cruising time, Yabuuchi said. "Higher energy density electrode materials are needed to advance lithium batteries and further develop electric vehicles," Yabuuchi said. "Our paper demonstrates a new electrode material for this purpose."

Electrode materials in batteries help absorb stored energy and discharge it to power whatever is in the battery. The materials that make up the electrodes rely on the exchange of electrons and lithium ions and greatly change the efficiency with which the battery works. In previous studies, researchers found that lithium ions mixed with manganese, titanium and oxygen ions provided excellent input and output for electrons and lithium ions, but the exchange was too slow to be used in practical battery applications.

Yabuuchi and his team studied this chemical combination and decided to pair it with a similar mixture of lithium, oxygen, manganese and titanium ions, but also grinded them into the desired particle size. Smaller nanoscale particles can move through the electrode faster and more easily, even at room temperature.

The nanoscale electrodes containing manganese and titanium ions resulted in a more stable exchange of electrons and lithium ions, and the battery was able to hold and disperse more charge than before while still maintaining a longer life.

"Both titanium and manganese are abundant elements, which means we can improve cost-effectiveness without the nickel and cobalt used in current electric vehicles," Yabuuchi said. This discovery could help reduce battery costs and add practical applications such as electric vehicles.

The team will continue to study how to further improve the reversibility of the electrode through chemical composition and particle size optimization.

"Now, we are working with industry partners to use our electrode materials for practical applications," Yabuuchi said. Our research has the potential to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and build a new energy society in the future based on renewable energy, based on long-lasting high-energy batteries.

The paper is titled "Activation and stabilization mechanisms of anionic redox for listerage applications: Joint experimental and theoretical study on Li2TiO3–LiMnO2 binary system".

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