Now that the electrical car transition is rolling full steam forward, automakers are scrambling to get their fingers on sufficient EV batteries to fill the demand. Meaning lithium, lithium, and extra lithium. Opening up new provide strains is one key technique, however consideration can be specializing in next-generation manufacturing applied sciences that squeeze each final little bit of zero emission worth from the gentle, silvery-white steel.
Higher EV Batteries: Look Ma, No Solvents
The newest improvement in EV battery expertise comes from Oak Ridge Nationwide Laboratory (ORNL), which is a part of the US Division of Power’s sprawling community of analysis amenities, in a public-private partnership with the US power storage agency Navitas Methods.
The analysis workforce took purpose on the typical, slurry-based methodology for making use of lithium to the electrodes of EV batteries. The slurry methodology is efficient so far as it goes, however the slurry itself is a stew of poisonous solvents that carry the danger of well being and environmental impacts. The slurry methodology additionally entails added bills, together with drying and biking again into the method.
As an alternative of attempting to scale back poisonous solvents within the lithium slurry, the ORNL analysis workforce ditched it altogether, in favor of the brand new dry processing methodology.
The brand new methodology entails making a compact powder-based materials. That’s not so simple as it sounds, however the payoff might be large when it comes to the stretching out the lifespan of EV batteries and bettering their efficiency.
“This eliminates the solvent whereas displaying promise for delivering a battery that’s sturdy, much less weighed down by inactive parts and in a position to keep excessive power storage capability after use,” Oak Ridge reported earlier this week (see extra of our Oak Ridge protection right here).
“Such enhancements may increase wider EV adoption, serving to to scale back carbon emissions and obtain U.S. local weather targets,” the lab added.
The Dry Processing Distinction, Finally
Don’t maintain your breath for the brand new slurry-free, non-toxic lithium-ion EV batteries of the longer term. The ORNL workforce remains to be within the early part of the R&D course of. Nevertheless, the dry processing methodology is already often called an area, time, and energy-saving manufacturing methodology. The lab additionally cites decrease start-up prices and improved efficiencies in waste disposal as advantages.
The lead researcher on the Navitas facet, Bryan Steinhoff, explains that producers can ditch cumbersome coating and solvent tools in the event that they change to the dry processing methodology. “If you should utilize a dry course of as a substitute, you may scale back your footprint by as much as 40 or 50%, saving tons of of tens of millions of {dollars},” Steinhoff says, referring to the price of new gigascale EV battery factories.
ORNL additionally factors out that dry processing is appropriate with different electrode manufacturing tools.
Understanding How Higher EV Batteries Work
Figuring out what works isn’t the identical as figuring out why it really works, although. Understanding the why is the subsequent step earlier than dry processing can utilized to EV batteries for the mass market.
Within the present part of the analysis, the ORNL workforce analyzed dry-processed electrodes manufactured by Navitas and reported their leads to the Chemical Engineering Journal.
Take a look at their work beneath the title,”Excessive-throughput and high-performance lithium-ion batteries by way of dry processing.” For these of you on the go, the brief reply is that dry processing allows producers to pack extra lively supplies into the electrode.
The thicker electrode is comparatively simple to manufacture and will result in features in loading efficiency, however that results in the lengthy reply. The thickness of the electrode might be a limiting issue when it comes to energy. Within the subsequent part of the analysis, one focus of consideration would be the polytetrafluoroethylene binder for the lithium powder.
“A important purpose for this challenge is to develop or determine a greater binder for the dry course of, as a result of the present binder isn’t very secure for the anode surroundings,” defined Oak Ridge Jianlin Li, co-leader of the workforce, together with Runming Tao of ORNL.
Safer Manufacturing For Lithium-Ion EV Batteries
Keep tuned for extra on that. In the meantime, the ORNL workforce has good firm elsewhere on the planet of EV battery analysis. In March, for instance, the journal Nature Communications revealed a examine on EV battery dry processing from a analysis workforce in Korea beneath the title, “Ultrahigh loading dry-process for solvent-free lithium-ion battery electrode fabrication.”
The Korean workforce noticed that typical EV batteries are made with an “costly natural solvent [that] evaporates very slowly.” They estimated 78% of the price of producing electrodes is expounded to drying and restoration steps.
Particularly, they name-checked the solvent N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, noting considerably alarmingly that it’s “isn’t solely poisonous (recognized to trigger male infertility) but in addition flammable.”
Extra Lithium For The USA
The Korean workforce reported promising outcomes for a dry powder made with carbon nanotubes and polyvinylidene fluoride, so keep tuned for extra on that as nicely.
In the meantime, US policymakers are decided to revive the nation’s moribund lithium trade, however obstacles abound. For instance, a proposed open pit lithium mine on federal land Nevada has encountered stiff headwinds, together with opposition from native tribes. A brand new Appeals Court docket ruling seems to have cleared the way in which for building to start this summer season, however it’s not an excellent search for followers of zero emission electrical mobility.
A much less contentious method could also be coming quickly. The US Division of Power has been focusing consideration on producing lithium from geothermal brine. That method would sharply scale back the floor footprint of lithium extraction.
The problem is to provide you with a cheap brine extraction methodology that may compete with environmentally damaging however cheaper strategies. The agency Managed Thermal Assets believes it has found the magic recipe, by combining the worth of lithium with the worth of geothermal power.
The agency started work on its “Hell’s Kitchen Lithium and Energy” challenge on the Salton Sea area of Imperial Valley, California in 2021.
In a go to to the Hell’s Kitchen challenge earlier this yr, California Governor Gavin Newsome highlighted the potential for “Lithium Valley” to feed the thirst for EV batteries within the US and past.
“Consultants consider Lithium Valley may present sufficient lithium to fulfill all of America’s future demand and greater than one-third of worldwide demand – supercharging the transition to zero-emission automobiles,” the Governor’s workplace defined.
On the identical journey, US Congressman Raul Ruiz (D-CA25) recommended that California’s collaborative method avoids the acrimony sparked by the Nevada lithium mine, together with the participation of tribal stakeholders.
That viewpoint was endorsed by the Chairman of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla, Thomas Tortez, Jr., who took observe of “the Governor’s dedication to strengthen Tribal communities with Tribal inclusion, significant person-to-person dialogue with a timeline, contemplating Tribal communities as lively members in clear power transitions and in collective decision-making with a dedication to succeed.”
“Lithium extraction and geothermal energy are a step in the precise route, however let’s guarantee Tribal cultural protections and honest distribution of unpolluted power advantages, avoiding disproportionate destructive impacts on Tribal communities,” he emphasised.
Discover me on Threads @tinamcasey. Additionally Put up @tinamcasey, or @TinaMCasey on LinkedIn and Spoutible, or @Casey on Mastadon, or Twitter (for now) @tinamcasey.
Photograph: New dry processing methodology for fabricating lithium-ion EV batteries courtesy of Navitas Methods by way of Oak Ridge Nationwide Laboratory.
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