Lithium-ion flow battery

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A lithium-ion flow battery is a flow battery that uses a form of lightweight lithium as its charge carrier. [1] The flow battery stores energy separately from its system for discharging. The amount of energy it can store is determined by tank size; its power density is determined by the size of the reaction chamber.

Contents

Dissolving a material changes its chemical behavior significantly. Flow batteries suspend grains of solid material in a liquid, which preserves its characteristics, making lithium's high energy density available to flow systems.

Lithium polysulfide

One device uses dissolved sulfur as the cathode, lithium metal as the anode and an organic solvent as the electrolyte. [2] Officially "membraneless", it uses a coating to separate anode from cathode. It uses a single tank and pump and reacts the LiS with lithium to produce power. The device operated for more than 2000 cycles without substantial degradation. [1] [3]

When discharging, the lithium polysulfide absorbs lithium ions; releasing them when charging. [1] The demonstration device yielded energy density of 97 Wh/kg and 108 Wh/L with a 5M Li
2
S
8
catholyte. [2]

LiFePO4

Reversible delithiation/lithiation of LiFePO
4
was successfully demonstrated using ferrocene derivatives. This device keeps the energy storage materials stored in separate tanks. The liquids remain stationary during operation. The device incorporated a lithium-ion permeable membrane. [4]

Lithium iodine

A cathode-flow lithium-iodine (Li–I) battery uses the triiodide/iodide (I
3
/I) redox couple in aqueous solution. It has energy density of 0.33 kWh/kg because of the solubility of LiI in aqueous solution (≈8.2M) and its power density of 130 mW/cm2 at a current rate of 60 mA/cm2, 328 K. In operation, the battery attains 90% of the theoretical storage capacity, coulombic efficiency of 100%±1% in 2–20 cycles, and cyclic performance of >99% capacity retention for 20 cycles, up to total capacity of 100 mAh. [5]

LiTi2(PO4)3–LiFePO4

A semi-solid cell based on the LiTi
2
(PO
4
)
3
–LiFePO
4
couple utilizes fluid electrodes that are electronically conductive. Simultaneous advection and electrochemical transport separates flow-induced losses from those due to underlying side reactions. Plug flow is used to achieve energy efficiency with non-Newtonian flow electrodes.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<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: within the next 30 years, their volumetric energy density increased threefold while their cost dropped tenfold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rechargeable battery</span> Type of electrical battery

A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell, is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or primary battery, which is supplied fully charged and discarded after use. It is composed of one or more electrochemical cells. The term "accumulator" is used as it accumulates and stores energy through a reversible electrochemical reaction. Rechargeable batteries are produced in many different shapes and sizes, ranging from button cells to megawatt systems connected to stabilize an electrical distribution network. Several different combinations of electrode materials and electrolytes are used, including lead–acid, zinc–air, nickel–cadmium (NiCd), nickel–metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), and lithium-ion polymer.

<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 and in opposite direction of a membrane. Ion transfer inside the cell occurs through the membrane while both liquids circulate in their own respective space. Cell voltage is chemically determined by the Nernst equation and ranges, in practical applications, from 1.0 to 2.43 volts. The energy capacity is a function of the electrolyte volume and the power is a function of the surface area of the electrodes.

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

The lithium iron phosphate battery or LFP battery is a type of lithium-ion battery using lithium iron phosphate as the cathode material, and a graphitic carbon electrode with a metallic backing as the anode. Because of their low cost, high safety, low toxicity, long cycle life and other factors, LFP batteries are finding a number of roles in vehicle use, utility-scale stationary applications, and backup power. LFP batteries are cobalt-free. As of September 2022, LFP type battery market share for EVs reached 31%, and of that, 68% was from Tesla and Chinese EV maker BYD production alone. Chinese manufacturers currently hold a near monopoly of LFP battery type production. With patents having started to expire in 2022 and the increased demand for cheaper EV batteries, LFP type production is expected to rise further and surpass lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxides (NMC) type batteries in 2028.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanobatteries</span> Type of battery

Nanobatteries are fabricated batteries employing technology at the nanoscale, particles that measure less than 100 nanometers or 10−7 meters. These batteries may be nano in size or may use nanotechnology in a macro scale battery. Nanoscale batteries can be combined to function as a macrobattery such as within a nanopore battery.

The polysulfide–bromine battery, is a type of rechargeable electric battery, which stores electric energy in liquids, such as water-based solutions of two salts: sodium bromide and sodium polysulfide. It is an example and type of redox (reduction–oxidation) flow battery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithium iron phosphate</span> Chemical compound

Lithium iron phosphate or lithium ferro-phosphate (LFP) is an inorganic compound with the formula LiFePO
4
. It is a gray, red-grey, brown or black solid that is insoluble in water. The material has attracted attention as a component of lithium iron phosphate batteries, a type of Li-ion battery. This battery chemistry is targeted for use in power tools, electric vehicles, solar energy installations and more recently large grid-scale energy storage.

<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.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solid-state battery</span> Battery with solid electrodes and a solid electrolyte

A solid-state battery is an electrical battery that uses a solid electrolyte for ionic conductions between the electrodes, instead of the liquid or gel polymer electrolytes found in conventional batteries. Solid-state batteries theoretically offer much higher energy density than the typical lithium-ion or lithium polymer batteries.

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 metal–air electrochemical cell is an electrochemical cell that uses an anode made from pure metal and an external cathode of ambient air, typically with an aqueous or aprotic electrolyte.

<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 its 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">Peter Bruce</span> British chemist

Sir Peter George Bruce, is a British chemist, and Wolfson Professor of Materials in the Department of Materials at the University of Oxford. Between 2018 and 2023, he served as Physical Secretary and Vice President of the Royal Society. Bruce is a founder and Chief Scientist of the Faraday Institution.

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 cost.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NASICON</span> Class of solid materials

NASICON is an acronym for sodium (Na) super ionic conductor, which usually refers to a family of solids with the chemical formula Na1+xZr2SixP3−xO12, 0 < x < 3. In a broader sense, it is also used for similar compounds where Na, Zr and/or Si are replaced by isovalent elements. NASICON compounds have high ionic conductivities, on the order of 10−3 S/cm, which rival those of liquid electrolytes. They are caused by hopping of Na ions among interstitial sites of the NASICON crystal lattice.

A magnesium sulfur battery is a rechargeable battery that uses magnesium ion as its charge carrier, magnesium metal as anode and sulfur as cathode. To increase the electronic conductivity of cathode, sulfur is usually mixed with carbon to form a cathode composite. Magnesium sulfur battery is an emerging energy storage technology and now is still in the stage of research. It is of great interest since in theory the Mg/S chemistry can provide 1722 Wh/kg energy density with a voltage at ~1.7 V.

Magnesium batteries are batteries that utilize magnesium cations as charge carriers and possibly in the anode in electrochemical cells. Both non-rechargeable primary cell and rechargeable secondary cell chemistries have been investigated. Magnesium primary cell batteries have been commercialised and have found use as reserve and general use batteries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Semi-solid flow battery</span>

A semi-solid flow battery is a type of flow battery using solid battery active materials or involving solid species in the energy carrying fluid. A research team in MIT proposed this concept using lithium-ion battery materials. In such a system, both positive (cathode) and negative electrode (anode) consist of active material particles with carbon black suspended in liquid electrolyte. Active material suspensions are stored in two energy storage tanks. The suspensions are pumped into the electrochemical reaction cell when charging and discharging. This design takes advantage of both the designing flexibility of flow batteries and the high energy density active materials of lithium-ion batteries.

<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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Researchers Design a New Low Cost Lithium-Polysulfide Flow Battery". SciTech Daily. 2013-05-24. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
  2. 1 2 "New lithium polysulfide flow battery for large-scale energy storage". Green Car Congress. 2013-04-25. doi:10.1039/C3EE00072A . Retrieved 2013-12-27.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. Yang, Y.; Zheng, G.; Cui, Y. (2013). "A membrane-free lithium/polysulfide semi-liquid battery for large-scale energy storage". Energy & Environmental Science. 6 (5): 1552. doi:10.1039/C3EE00072A.
  4. Huang, Q.; Li, H.; Grätzel, M.; Wang, Q. (2013). "Reversible chemical delithiation/lithiation of LiFePO4: Towards a redox flow lithium-ion battery". Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. 15 (6): 1793–1797. Bibcode:2013PCCP...15.1793H. doi:10.1039/C2CP44466F. PMID   23262995.
  5. Zhao, Y.; Byon, H. R. (2013). "High-Performance Lithium-Iodine Flow Battery". Advanced Energy Materials. 3 (12): 1630. doi:10.1002/aenm.201300627. S2CID   98455413.