Dual carbon battery

Last updated

A dual carbon battery is a type of battery that uses graphite (or carbon) as both its cathode and anode material. Compared to lithium-ion batteries, dual-ion batteries (DIBs) require less energy and emit less CO2 during production, have a reduced reliance on critical materials such as Ni or Co, and are more easily recyclable.

Contents

History

Dual-carbon (also called dual-graphite) batteries were first introduced in a 1989 patent. [1] They were later studied by various other research groups. [2]

In 2014, start-up Power Japan Plus announced plans to commercialize its version, named the Ryden. Dual Carbon Battery Technology has been developed by joint research between Power Japan Plus Inc. and Dr. Tatsumi Ishihara, professor of Kyushu University. Power Japan Plus has completed development of a proof of concept of Organic Dual Carbon Battery as coin cells in 2014.

Co-lead Kaname Takeya is known for his work on the Toyota Prius and Tesla Model S. [3] The company claimed that its cell offers energy density comparable to a lithium-ion battery, more rapid charge rate, a longer functional lifetime (3k cycles), improved safety and cradle-to-cradle sustainability. The company claimed that its battery charges 20 times faster than conventional lithium-ion batteries, is rated for more than 3,000 cycles and can slot directly into existing manufacturing processes, without changes to existing manufacturing lines. [2]

In June 2017, PJP Eye LTD. acquired Power Japan Plus's battery business and all of its R&D facility and equipment, intellectual property and patents, and other assets.

Currently, PJP Eye LTD. continues development of Organic Dual Carbon Battery and completed proof of concept of the battery as laminated cells. PJP Eye has mass-produced Organic Single Carbon Battery based on Organic Dual Carbon Technology in 2017. It has been integrated into various applications from personal mobilities, drones to storages. PJP Eye LTD. plans to mass-produce and start commercialization of Organic Dual Carbon Battery which brand name is "Cambrian Dual" by 2023 to integrated them into EVs and electric airplanes.

As an electrolyte, the cell uses one or more lithium salts in an aprotic organic solvent. These remain unspecified, but as an example in a patent, the group uses a system consisting of lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF
6
) as the salt, and ethylene carbonate (EC) and dimethyl carbonate (DMC), mixed in a 1:2 volume ratio, as solvent.

Both electrodes are based on graphitic carbon. Graphite with the right grain size is obtained by pyrolyzing cotton.

Precipitation and dissolution of a lithium salt takes place at any location where the electrolyte is present. However, increased precipitation on electrode surfaces decreases power density because the salt in a solid state is an insulator. One element of the company's patent introduces a method to prevent such precipitation. This also improves the battery's specific energy. [2]

The battery can fully discharge without the risk of short-circuiting and damaging the battery. The battery operates without heating at room temperature, avoiding the extensive cooling systems that appear in current electric cars and the corresponding risk of thermal runaway. It operates at over four volts. The battery is fully recyclable. The electrodes are made from cotton, to better control the crystal size. [4]

A separate research project used the same salt and a high voltage aprotic electrolyte based on a fluorinated solvent and additive, which was capable of supporting the chemistry at 5.2 V with high efficiency. Enough electrolyte salt is needed in the cell to guarantee conductivity, and enough solvent must be available to enable the salt to dissolve at any level of charge/discharge. [2]

Mode of operation

Lithium ions dispersed in the electrolyte are inserted/deposited into/on the anode during charge, as in other lithium-ion batteries. Unusually, ions (anions) from the electrolyte are intercalated into the cathode at the same time. During discharge, both anions and lithium ions return to the electrolyte. The electrolyte in such a system thus acts as both charge carrier and active material. [2]

Capacity is determined by the storage capacity and amount of ion release of the electrodes and the amount of anions and cations in the aprotic electrolyte. [2]

Reactions

In following lines, → is the charging reaction and ← is the discharging reaction.

Positive electrode:

PF
6
+ n C ⇄ C
n
(PF
6
) + e

Negative electrode:

Li+
+ n C + e
LiC
n

Patents

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electrode</span> Electrical conductor used to make contact with nonmetallic parts of a circuit

An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit. Electrodes are essential parts of batteries that can consist of a variety of materials depending on the type of battery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electrolysis</span> Technique in chemistry and manufacturing

In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of elements from naturally occurring sources such as ores using an electrolytic cell. The voltage that is needed for electrolysis to occur is called the decomposition potential. The word "lysis" means to separate or break, so in terms, electrolysis would mean "breakdown via electricity."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithium-ion battery</span> Rechargeable battery type

A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. In comparison with other commercial rechargeable batteries, Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, higher energy density, higher energy efficiency, a longer cycle life, and a longer calendar life. Also noteworthy is a dramatic improvement in lithium-ion battery properties after their market introduction in 1991: during the next 30 years, their volumetric energy density increased threefold while their cost dropped tenfold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithium polymer battery</span> Lithium-ion battery using a polymer electrolyte

A lithium polymer battery, or more correctly, lithium-ion polymer battery, is a rechargeable battery of lithium-ion technology using a polymer electrolyte instead of a liquid electrolyte. Highly conductive semisolid (gel) polymers form this electrolyte. These batteries provide higher specific energy than other lithium battery types. They are used in applications where weight is critical, such as mobile devices, radio-controlled aircraft, and some electric vehicles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flow battery</span> Type of electrochemical cell

A flow battery, or redox flow battery, is a type of electrochemical cell where chemical energy is provided by two chemical components dissolved in liquids that are pumped through the system on separate sides of a membrane. Ion transfer inside the cell occurs across the membrane while the liquids circulate in their respective spaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the battery</span> History of electricity source

Batteries provided the primary source of electricity before the development of electric generators and electrical grids around the end of the 19th century. Successive improvements in battery technology facilitated major electrical advances, from early scientific studies to the rise of telegraphs and telephones, eventually leading to portable computers, mobile phones, electric cars, and many other electrical devices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithium-ion capacitor</span> Hybrid type of capacitor

A lithium-ion capacitor is a hybrid type of capacitor classified as a type of supercapacitor. It is called a hybrid because the anode is the same as those used in lithium-ion batteries and the cathode is the same as those used in supercapacitors. Activated carbon is typically used as the cathode. The anode of the LIC consists of carbon material which is often pre-doped with lithium ions. This pre-doping process lowers the potential of the anode and allows a relatively high output voltage compared to other supercapacitors.

Rechargeable lithium metal batteries are secondary lithium metal batteries. They have metallic lithium as a negative electrode. The high specific capacity of lithium metal, very low redox potential and low density make it the ideal negative material for high energy density battery technologies. Rechargeable lithium metal batteries can have a long run time due to the high charge density of lithium. Several companies and many academic research groups are currently researching and developing rechargeable lithium metal batteries as they are considered a leading pathway for development beyond lithium-ion batteries. Some rechargeable lithium metal batteries employ a liquid electrolyte and some employ a solid-state electrolyte.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithium–sulfur battery</span> Type of rechargeable battery

The lithium–sulfur battery is a type of rechargeable battery. It is notable for its high specific energy. The low atomic weight of lithium and moderate atomic weight of sulfur means that Li–S batteries are relatively light. They were used on the longest and highest-altitude unmanned solar-powered aeroplane flight by Zephyr 6 in August 2008.

The lithium–air battery (Li–air) is a metal–air electrochemical cell or battery chemistry that uses oxidation of lithium at the anode and reduction of oxygen at the cathode to induce a current flow.

A potassium-ion battery or K-ion battery is a type of battery and analogue to lithium-ion batteries, using potassium ions for charge transfer instead of lithium ions. It was invented by the Iranian/American chemist Ali Eftekhari in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sodium-ion battery</span> Type of rechargeable battery

Sodium-ion batteries (NIBs, SIBs, or Na-ion batteries) are several types of rechargeable batteries, which use sodium ions (Na+) as their charge carriers. In some cases, its working principle and cell construction are similar to those of lithium-ion battery (LIB) types, but it replaces lithium with sodium as the intercalating ion. Sodium belongs to the same group in the periodic table as lithium and thus has similar chemical properties. However, in some cases, such as aqueous batteries, SIBs can be quite different from LIBs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supercapacitor</span> High-capacity electrochemical capacitor

A supercapacitor (SC), also called an ultracapacitor, is a high-capacity capacitor, with a capacitance value much higher than solid-state capacitors but with lower voltage limits. It bridges the gap between electrolytic capacitors and rechargeable batteries. It typically stores 10 to 100 times more energy per unit volume or mass than electrolytic capacitors, can accept and deliver charge much faster than batteries, and tolerates many more charge and discharge cycles than rechargeable batteries.

Aluminium-ion batteries are a class of rechargeable battery in which aluminium ions serve as charge carriers. Aluminium can exchange three electrons per ion. This means that insertion of one Al3+ is equivalent to three Li+ ions. Thus, since the ionic radii of Al3+ (0.54 Å) and Li+ (0.76 Å) are similar, significantly higher numbers of electrons and Al3+ ions can be accepted by cathodes with little damage. Al has 50 times (23.5 megawatt-hours m-3) the energy density of Li and is even higher than coal.

Research in lithium-ion batteries has produced many proposed refinements of lithium-ion batteries. Areas of research interest have focused on improving energy density, safety, rate capability, cycle durability, flexibility, and reducing cost.

Lithium–silicon batteries are lithium-ion battery that employ a silicon-based anode and lithium ions as the charge carriers. Silicon based materials generally have a much larger specific capacity, for example 3600 mAh/g for pristine silicon, relative to the standard anode material graphite, which is limited to a maximum theoretical capacity of 372 mAh/g for the fully lithiated state LiC6.

Calcium (ion) batteries are energy storage and delivery technologies (i.e., electro–chemical energy storage) that employ calcium ions (cations), Ca2+, as the active charge carrier. Calcium (ion) batteries remain an active area of research, with studies and work persisting in the discovery and development of electrodes and electrolytes that enable stable, long-term battery operation. Calcium batteries are rapidly emerging as a recognized alternative to Li-ion technology due to their similar performance, significantly greater abundance, and lower cost.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the lithium-ion battery</span> Overview of the events of the development of lithium-ion battery

This is a history of the lithium-ion battery.

Fluoride batteries are rechargeable battery technology based on the shuttle of fluoride, the anion of fluorine, as ionic charge carriers.

Superconcentrated electrolytes, also known as water-in-salt or solvent-in-salt liquids, usually refer to chemical systems, which are liquid near room temperature and consist of a solvent-to-dissoved salt in a molar ratio near or smaller than ca. 4-8, i.e. where all solvent molecules are coordinated to cations, and no free solvent molecules remain. Since ca. 2010 such liquid electrolytes found several applications, primarily for batteries. In the case of lithium metal batteries and lithium-ion batteries most commonly used anions for superconcentrated electrolytes are those, that are large, asymmetric and rotationally-vibrationally flexible, such as bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide and bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide. Noteworthy, lithium chloride and sodium perchlorate also form water-in-salt solutions.

References

  1. McCullough, Francis P. ; Beale, Alvin F. Jr. "Secondary electrical energy storage device and electrode therefor" U.S. Patent no. 4,865,931 (filed: 4 December 1984 ; issued: 12 September 1989).
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Japanese start-up seeks to commercialize dual-carbon battery technology; anion intercalnation". Green Car Congress. 14 May 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  3. Templeton, Graham (May 15, 2014). "Dual Carbon batteries: Is this finally the breakthrough we've been promised for so long?". Extreme Tech. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  4. Borghino, Dario (May 19, 2014). "New "dual carbon" battery charges 20 times faster than Li-ion". Gizmag. Retrieved April 1, 2015.