Diamonds Are A Battery’s Best Friend — Potential Lithium-Ion Battery Breakthrough
August 28th, 2017 by Steve Hanley
SNIPPET:
Dendrites are the enemy of lithium-ion batteries. As ions transfer back and forth between the anode and the cathode in those batteries, they can leave behind tendril-like buildups called dendrites. Similar to stalactites that form inside a cave, these battery buildups (dendrites) are one of the main causes of lithium battery malfunction.
Lithium is the ideal material for cathodes in terms of energy storage potential, but pure lithium cathodes suffer from significant dendrite formations. To solve that issue, battery makers have started
blending the lithium with graphene. The resulting compound inhibits the formation of dendrites but also significantly reduces the energy storage capacity of the cathode. A pure lithium cathode is capable of storing 10 times as much electrical energy as a cathode made of lithium and graphene.
Researchers at Drexel University, working closely with colleagues at Tsinghua University in Beijing and Hauzhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, may have found a way to inhibit the formation of dendrites and allow cathodes to be made with a higher percentage of lithium. Their discovery involves adding nanosized diamonds to the electrolyte inside the battery.
On August 25, Professor Yury Gogotsi and his research team from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel published their research in the journal Nature Communications. Entitled “Nanodiamonds Suppress Growth of Lithium Dendrites,” it describes how diamond particles 10,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair curtail the electrochemical deposits that form dendrites.
Agelbert NOTE: The
micrometre (
International spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol:
μm) or
micrometer (American spelling), is also commonly known as a
micron. One μm equals one millionth of a metre (or one thousandth of a millimetre, 0.001 mm, or about 0.000039 inch). The width of a single human hair ranges from approximately 10 to 200 μm.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicrometreHuman Hair
Full article:
https://cleantechnica.com/2017/08/28/diamonds-batterys-best-friend-lithium-ion-battery-breakthrough/