When were lithium-ion batteries introduced?

Overview of the events of the development of lithium-ion battery

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This is a history of the lithium-ion battery.

Before lithium-ion: -

Batteries with metallic lithium electrodes presented safety issues, most importantly the formation of lithium dendrites, that internally short-circuit the battery resulting in explosions. Also, dendrites often lose electronic contact with current collectors leading to a loss of cyclable Li+ charge.[12] Consequently, research moved to develop batteries in which, instead of metallic lithium, only lithium compounds are present, being capable of accepting and releasing lithium ions.

• : Adam Heller proposed the lithium thionyl chloride battery, still used in implanted medical devices and in defense systems where a greater than 20-year shelf life, high energy density, and/or tolerance for extreme operating temperatures are required.

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  However, this battery employs unsafe lithium metal and was not rechargeable.

Precommercial development: -

In (2 years before the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded) George Blomgren offered some speculations on why Akira Yoshino's group produced a commercially viable lithium-ion battery before Jeff Dahn's group:[51]

• The Dahn group tested the carbonaceous positive electrode against lithium instead of a metal oxide. Therefore, they did not observe the severe corrosion of an aluminum positive current collector with the LiAsF6 electrolyte, but Yoshino et al. used ... LiPF6, which was commonly used for primary lithium metal batteries in Japan.
• Yoshino et al. also studied various binders including the ultimate winner- polyvinylidene fluoride, while Dahn's group used only ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), which turned out to be not durable enough for commercial LIBs.

Commercialization in portable applications: -

The performance and capacity of lithium-ion batteries increased as development progressed.

Commercialization in automotive applications: -today

Market

Industry produced about 660 million cylindrical lithium-ion cells in ; the size is by far the most popular for cylindrical cells. If Tesla were to have met its goal of shipping 40,000 Model S electric cars in and if the 85 kWh battery, which uses 7,104 of these cells, had proved as popular overseas as it was in the United States, a study projected that the Model S alone would use almost 40 percent of estimated global cylindrical battery production during .[81] As of , production was gradually shifting to higher-capacity 3,000+ mAh cells. Annual flat polymer cell demand was expected to exceed 700 million in .[82][needs update]

Prices of lithium-ion batteries have fallen over time. Overall, between and , prices for all types of lithium-ion cells (in dollars per kWh) fell approximately 97%.[79] Over the same time period, energy density more than tripled.[79] Efforts to increase energy density contributed significantly to cost reduction.[83]

In , cost estimates ranged from $300&#;500/kWh[clarification needed].[84] In GM revealed they would be paying US$145/kWh for the batteries in the Chevy Bolt EV.[85] In , the average residential energy storage systems installation cost was expected to drop from $ /kWh in to $250 /kWh by and to see the price with 70% reduction by .[86] In , some electric vehicle battery pack costs were estimated at $150&#;200,[87] and VW noted it was paying US$100/kWh for its next generation of electric vehicles.[88]

Batteries are used for grid energy storage and ancillary services. For a Li-ion storage coupled with photovoltaics and an anaerobic digestion biogas power plant, Li-ion will generate a higher profit if it is cycled more frequently (hence a higher lifetime electricity output) although the lifetime is reduced due to degradation.[89]

Several types of lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide (NCM) and lithium nickel cobalt aluminium oxide (NCA) cathode powders with a layered structure are commercially available. Their chemical compositions are specified by the molar ratio of component metals. NCM 111 (or NCM 333) have equimolar parts of nickel, cobalt and manganese. Notably, in NCM cathodes, manganese is not electroactive and remains in the oxidation state +4 during battery's charge-discharge cycling. Cobalt is cycled between the oxidation states +3 and +4, and nickel - between +2 and +4. Due to the higher price of cobalt and due to the higher number of cyclable electrons per nickel atom, high-nickel (also known as "nickel-rich") materials (with Ni atomic percentage > 50%) gain considerable attention from both battery researchers and battery manufacturers. However, high-Ni cathodes are prone to O2 evolution and Li+/Ni4+ cation mixing upon overcharging.[90]

As of , NMC 532 and NMC 622 were the preferred low-cobalt types for electric vehicles, with NMC 811 and even lower cobalt ratios seeing increasing use, mitigating cobalt dependency.[91][92][87] However, cobalt for electric vehicles increased 81% from the first half of to 7,200 tonnes in the first half of , for a battery capacity of 46.3 GWh.[93]

In , global lithium-ion battery production capacity was 20 gigawatt-hours.[94] By , it was 28 GWh, with 16.4 GWh in China.[95] Production in is estimated by various sources to be between 200 and 600 GWh, and predictions for range from 400 to 1,100 GWh.[96]

An antitrust-violating price-fixing cartel among nine corporate families, including LG Chem, GS Yuasa, Hitachi Maxell, NEC, Panasonic/Sanyo, Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba was found to be rigging battery prices and restricting output between and .[97][98][99][100]

References

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In the late s, a team of global scientists began developing what would become the lithium-ion battery, a type of rechargeable battery that would eventually power everything from portable electronics to electric vehicles and mobile phones.

This week, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists, John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino, for their work in developing this battery.

According to the official Nobel Prize organization, &#;this lightweight, rechargeable and powerful battery is now used in everything from mobile phones to laptops and electric vehicles. It can also store significant amounts of energy from solar and wind power, making possible a fossil fuel-free society.&#;

The History of the Lithium-Ion Battery

During the oil crisis in the s, Stanley Whittingham, an English chemist working for Exxon mobile at the time, started exploring the idea of a new battery &#; one that could recharge on its own in a short amount of time and perhaps lead to fossil-free energy one day.

In his first attempt, he tried using titanium disulfide and lithium metal as the electrodes, but the combination posed several challenges, including serious safety concerns. After the batteries short-circuited and caught on fire, Exxon decided to halt the experiment.

However, John B. Goodenough, currently an engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin, had another idea. In the s, he experimented using lithium cobalt oxide as the cathode instead of titanium disulfide, which paid off: the battery doubled its energy potential.

Five years later, Akira Yoshino of Meijo University in Nagoya, Japan, made another swap. Instead of using reactive lithium metal as anode, he tried using a carbonaceous material, petroleum coke, which led to a revolutionary finding: not only was the new battery significantly safer without lithium metal, the battery performance was more stable, thus producing the first prototype of the lithium-ion battery.

Together, these three discoveries led to the lithium-ion battery as we know it.

Building a Better Battery with Electron Microscopy and Spectroscopy

Although the market for lithium-ion batteries continues to grow at double-digit rates, the challenge is developing batteries that are safer, longer-lasting, and higher energy density. To help with this research, many scientists are turning to various analytical techniques to study battery components at different stages of their lifecycle.

Using imaging techniques such as, microCT and electron microscopy, scientists can create 2D and 3D images, allowing them to see the battery in full length scale, from the cell level down to the atomic level. From here, they can develop fundamental understanding of the battery materials from the microstructural information extracted from images.

To study the evolution of materials structural and composition changes as well as defect formations, scientists turn to spectroscopy, such as Raman, NMR, X-ray diffraction and mass spectrometry. Using these techniques, researchers can analyze the electrode materials as they charge and give information they wouldn&#;t otherwise see.

Continuing the Quest for Longer-Lasting, Higher Energy Density Batteries

Universities and businesses around the globe continue to explore ways to create batteries that are safer, more powerful, last longer, and perform even under severe weather conditions.

Researchers at UC San Diego, for example, are trying to improve the energy density of the lithium-ion battery by adding silicon to the anode. They are also developing a battery that can operate in temperatures as cold as -76° F, compared to the current limit of -4° F for lithium-ion batteries.

Lithium-ion batteries have revolutionized modern day living. As Whittingham said at a recent conference, &#;Lithium batteries have impacted the lives of almost everyone in the world.&#; He&#;s still working on battery research, and we&#;re excited to see how the Nobel Prize win helps drives the industry forward.

Congratulations to all three winners!

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Resources

To learn more about how electron microscopy is being used to develop new batteries, click here to speak with an expert.

Zhao Liu is a business development manager, electron microscopy at Thermo Fisher Scientific.

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