Development of a lithium-air battery with an energy density over 500 wh/
kg
One of the world's highest energy densities achieved

Date:
January 20, 2022
Source:
National Institute for Materials Science, Japan
Summary:
Researchers have developed a lithium-air battery with an energy
density over 500Wh/kg -- significantly higher than currently lithium
ion batteries. The research team then confirmed that this battery
can be charged and discharged at room temperature. In addition,
the team found that the battery developed by the team shows the
highest energy densities and best cycle life performances ever
achieved. These results signify a major step toward the practical
use of lithium-air batteries.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
NIMS and Softbank Corp. have developed a lithium-air battery with an
energy density over 500Wh/kg -- significantly higher than currently
lithium ion batteries. The research team then confirmed that this battery
can be charged and discharged at room temperature. In addition, the team
found that the battery developed by the team shows the highest energy
densities and best cycle life performances ever achieved. These results
signify a major step toward the practical use of lithium-air batteries.


========================================================================== Lithium-air batteries have the potential to be the ultimate rechargeable batteries: they are lightweight and high capacity, with theoretical energy densities several times that of currently available lithium ion batteries.

Because of these potential advantages, they may find use in a wide
range of technologies, such as drones, electric vehicles and household electricity storage systems. NIMS has been carrying out basic research
on lithium-air batteries with support from the ALCA-SPRING program
(ALCA: Advanced Low Carbon Technology Research and Development Program,
SPRING: Specially Promoted Research for Innovative Next Generation
Batteries). This program has been funded by the Japan Science and
Technology Agency (JST) with the goal of accelerating large-capacity rechargeable battery R&D. In 2018, NIMS and Softbank co-founded the
Advanced Technologies Development Center to conduct research with the
goal of putting lithium-air batteries into practical use in mobile phone
base stations, the Internet of Things (IoT), HAPS (high altitude platform stations) and other technologies. Despite their very high theoretical
energy densities, only a small number of lithium-air batteries with
high energy densities have actually been fabricated and evaluated. This
limited success is attributed to the fact that a large proportion by
weight of lithium-air battery contains heavy inactive components (e.g., separators and electrolytes) that do not directly participate in actual
battery reactions.

This research team had previously developed original battery materials
that significantly increase the performance of lithium-air batteries in ALCA-SPRING- supported research. The team then developed a technique to fabricate high- energy-density lithium-air cells at the NIMS-SoftBank
Advanced Technologies Development Center. Finally, the team created
a new lithium-air battery by combining these new materials and the
fabrication techniques. The developed battery exhibited the energy
density over 500 Wh/kg -- substantially higher than currently lithium
ion batteries. Notably, the repeated discharge and charge reaction
proceeds at room temperature. The energy density and cycle life
performance of this battery are among the highest ever achieved.* *
Based on surveys conducted by NIMS (as of December 14, 2021) The team
is currently developing higher-performance battery materials and plans
to integrate them into the newly developed lithium-air battery with
the aim of greatly increasing the battery's cycle life. The team then
plans to expedite efforts to put the battery into practical use at the NIMS-SoftBank Advanced Technologies Development Center.

This project was carried out by a research team led by Shoichi Matsuda
(Senior Researcher, NIMS), Manai Ono (Postdoctoral Researcher, NIMS),
Shoji Yamaguchi (Specialist Staff, NIMS) and Kohei Uosaki (Research
Fellow, NIMS; also Director, NIMS-SoftBank Advanced Technologies
Development Center). This work was mainly supported by the JST ALCA-SPRING program and the NIMS-SoftBank Advanced Technologies Development Center.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by National_Institute_for_Materials_Science,_Japan. Note: Content may be
edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Shoichi Matsuda, Manai Ono, Shoji Yamaguchi, Kohei Uosaki. Criteria
for
evaluating lithium-air batteries in academia to correctly predict
their practical performance in industry. Materials Horizons, 2022;
DOI: 10.1039/d1mh01546j ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220120140724.htm

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