Towards better batteries

Towards better batteries

In theory, a minus lithium pole would allow Li-ion batteries to store two to three times more charge than the current generation of batteries. That sounds attractive. However, a lithium anode never transpired because the current electrolytes (the conductive material between the plus and minus poles) would then break down too quickly. And the accumulation of waste products causes the battery’s performance to worsen over time.

Researchers led by TU Delft Professor Marnix Wagemaker have now developed an amide-based electrolyte whose performance is not affected. They published their research in Nature. “There is decay,” says Wagemaker, “but it is very controlled.” Therefore, waste products do not interfere with the operation of the battery.

But before the invention can be adopted, the reaction on the positive pole also needs to be improved. According to Wagemaker, this is not an insurmountable obstacle. “I think that in the foreseeable future batteries with two to three times higher energy density than our current batteries will be produced at lab scale. They may not yet have a lifespan of thousands of charge/discharge cycles, but they will have hundreds of cycles.”