LLIBTA Symposium Large Lithium Ion Battery Technology and Application Track A: Cell Materials and Chemistry Tuesday, February 4 to Wednesday, February 5, 2014
AABC 2014 LLIBTA Symposium - Large Lithium Ion Battery Technology and Application - Track A: Cell Materials and Chemistry - Session 3
In this session, we will explore prospects and challenges for futuristic rechargeable battery chemistries theoretically capable of providing higher energy densities and/or lower cost than Lithium-Ion chemistries.
Session Chairman:
Ping Liu, Program Director, Arpa-E
Dr. Ping Liu currently serves as a Program Director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). His main focuses include advanced materials for energy efficiency and energy conversion and storage. Dr. Liu was previously Manager of Energy Technology at HRL Laboratories, an industrial research company jointly owned by the Boeing Company and General Motors. At HRL, Dr. Liu led a broad range of research activities in energy conversion and storage for owner companies as well as government and commercial customers. Dr. Liu also developed a variety of concepts in multifunctional power, solid-state batteries, and lithium-sulfur chemistry. Prior to joining HRL in 2003, Dr. Liu was a member of the technical staff at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Dr Liu received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D., all in chemistry, from Fudan University in China.
SESSION AGENDA
ARPA-E Program for Next Generation Batteries Ping Liu, Program Director, ARPA-E
Abstract
Dramatic reduction in the cost of energy storage is essential to enable electric vehicles to reach cost and range parity of gasoline powered vehicles. To achieve this goal, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-e) recently launched the Robust Affordable Next Generation EV-Storage (RANGE) program. The program focuses on energy storage systems that are inherently tolerant to abuse. The benefits of this approach are illustrated by vehicle level analysis and include:
Reduction in weight, volume, and cost attributed to protection systems,
Possibility to use lower specific energy chemistries offering comparable system weight as lithium ion batteries,
Possibility of considering novel EV architectures,
Possibility of using energy storage systems to contribute to vehicle crashworthiness
Based on this analysis, the RANGE program funds four categories of technologies:
High-energy aqueous batteries and flow cells
Non-aqueous batteries and flow cells with inherent safe designs
Solid-state batteries
Multifunctional energy storage systems
This presentation will briefly discuss the chemical and material processes that influence the abuse tolerance of batteries, cover the system analysis that motivated the program, and provide examples from the portfolio to illustrate specific technical approaches. The presentation will conclude by providing an outlook of low-cost, long-life energy storage technologies.
Close Abstract
Advanced Lithium-Sulfur Batteries Based on Aqueous Electrolytes Steve Visco, CEO, CTO, and Co-founder, Polyplus Battery Company
Abstract
The exceptionally low cost of sulfur combined with the high theoretical energy density for the lithium-sulfur couple, make the Li-S battery an attractive candidate for future electric vehicles. However, a number of challenging technical hurdles have precluded commercialization of this otherwise promising chemistry. The first issue, the well-known polysulfide shuttle was solved by PolyPlus with the invention of the protected lithium electrode. The second issue, generation of highly insoluble lower polysulfides (Li2S2, Li2S) leads to rapid degradation on cycling, and is more intractable. Some researchers have claimed reversible cycling in Li-S cells due to “immobilization” of the polysulfides through the inclusion of nano-architectured carbon, graphene, etc. but these studies appear all to be done at low sulfur concentration, and/or small area capacities, and therefore uninteresting in terms of practical energy density. PolyPlus spent a number of years looking for non-aqueous solvents capable of dissolving lower polysulfides, with limited success. PolyPlus has now made a breakthrough in Li-S chemistry with the introduction of an aqueous Li-S battery.
This presentation will address the following:
Next generation chemistries for advanced batteries
Structure and engineering of the protected lithium electrode
Enablement of advanced lithium-air, lithium-sulfur, and lithium-water batteries
Limitations and challenges of Li-S chemistry
Identification of the key technical hurdles in lithium-sulfur battery technology
Potential solutions to the key issues in Li-S technology
Aqueous Li-S battery technology
State of the art
Close Abstract
Li-Ion vs. Beyond Li-Ion: A reality Check for Automotive Stan Whittingham, Distinguished Professor, Chemistry and Materials Science & Engineering, NYU Binghampton University
Abstract
There is a large demand for a battery that can at least double the energy storage capability of today’s Li-ion battery, in order to enable a vehicle with a range exceeding 200 miles and at a lower cost. Key to this challenge is the volumetric storage capability, rather than the gravimetric storage for consumer automobiles. Much effort has recently been focused on “Beyond Li-Ion” redox systems, such as Li-air and Li-sulfur. This presentation will discuss the key issues facing volume-limited batteries, as required for automotive use. These issues include:
What is the present status of Li-ion cells?
What are the ultimate limitations of intercalation-based cells?
What are the key issues facing high capacity conversion reactions?
What are the theoretical limitations of Li/air cells?
What are the practical limitations to Li/air cells?
Summary:
Alternative approaches to intercalation reactions might be more realistic than Li-air or Li-S cells.
Close Abstract
Aluminum-Air Range Extender for Electric Vehicles Aviv Tzidon, Founder & CEO, Phinergy
Abstract
For years, metal-air has held great promise in the field of energy storage but has failed to deliver the expected performance. As a result of Phinergy's breakthroughs in air-electrode technology, the company has overcome the challenges of the past. Phinergy’s aluminum-air battery uses air and water to unleash the vast energy stored in aluminum. The battery system breathes ambient air through an air electrode while consuming water.
Phinergy has demonstrated its technology on a fully electric vehicle with a hybrid architecture that combines a small lithium-ion battery and the Phinergy aluminum-air range extender. With a greatly extended range, the vehicle stops only to refuel with water every few hundred kilometers.
This presentation covers the following topics:
A brief overview of the company
Phinergy's breakthroughs in metal-air technology
The concept of an aluminum-air range extender to combine power, recharging, and energy in fully electric vehicles
The collaboration between Phinergy and the leading global aluminum producer, Alcoa, to bring aluminum-air technology to market and transform it into a means of storing and transporting clean energy
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“POSTER +8” PRESENTATIONS:
Process Development and Scale-up of a Cobalt Free High Energy Cathode Material Ozgenur K. Feridun, Argonne National Laboratory
Abstract
There is a need to develop scale-up processes for lithium-ion battery materials to the kilogram and tens-of-kilogram quantities to support the transition of these technologies to industry. This study aims to;
Identify and resolve constraints in the scale-up of advanced battery cathode materials, from the bench to pre-pilot scale with the development of cost-effective process technology.
Produce kilogram quantities of optimized precursor materials from the basic transition metal salts by utilizing co-precipitation method.
Optimize the steady state conditions in the 20L-continuous stirring tank reactor.
Control the particle size, distribution and morphology in a continuous operation under steady state conditions and provide reproducibility.
Obtain high energy density cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.
Close Abstract
High-Energy Cell Development in the Cell Analysis, Modeling, and Prototyping (CAMP) Facility at Argonne Andy Jansen, Argonne National Laboratory
Abstract
The “valley of death” is a phrase that is often used to describe the path that a new discovery must traverse to become a commercial product. This is especially true for novel battery materials that are invented in research laboratories around the world. The CAMP Facility is appropriately sized to enable the design, fabrication, and characterization of high-quality prototype cells using just a few hundred grams of the latest discoveries involving high energy battery materials. In this short Poster+8 presentation, the lessons-learned from this research facility point of view will be discussed including:
Ideal size and level of automation of equipment
Minimum staffing levels and auxiliary support facilities
Merits and limitations of pouch vs. 18650 cylindrical formats as test vehicles.
Some key findings of the CAMP Facility will be discussed relating to high energy cell systems such as the lithium-manganese-rich nickel-manganese-cobalt (LMR-NMC) cathode materials being developed at Argonne. In particular,
Effect of composition and slurry/electrode processing conditions
Differences and similarities seen between 4 mAh coin cells and 400 mAh pouch cells.
The presentation will conclude with a brief discussion of current activities within the CAMP Facility relating to high energy cathodes (such as LMR-NMC and 5-volt spinel) and high capacity anodes (such as silicon-graphite/carbon/graphene and metal-alloy-oxide composites).
Close Abstract
Application of Biominerals to Improve Performance of Cathode Materials Shailesh Upreti, ES700 LLC
Abstract
This presentation reviews and addresses real world issues with current and emerging higher voltage battery systems. Environmentally friendly and cost effective biomineralization technology has been developed and successfully integrated into Li-ion material systems, creating composite structures that:
Extract more Li ions from crystal structures
Extend working voltage and cycle life
Safely deliver higher energy and power
This presentation highlights inventions that resolve key performance issues of battery chemistries for both anode and cathode by utilizing properties of apatite’s and creation of biomineralized composites.
Biomaterials found in teeth and bones are particularly noteworthy for their strength and corrosion resistance while being highly permeable to lithium ions. The stability of this class of materials in the presence of a variety of chemicals such as organic solvents, strong acids, bases, and ability to provide strong mechanical strength is well studied in biological sciences. In this presentation we highlight the strong chemical and electrochemical characteristics of biomaterials for the use in electrochemical cells that use higher voltage materials (critical above 4 V) as follow:
