Researchers develop advanced lithium-ion battery for electric vehicles

Researchers have developed an advanced lithium-ion battery, having high energy content and rate capacity, to make electric vehicles a more realistic alternative to gas-powered automobiles.

The researchers used an unique electrode combination - a tin-carbon anode and a lithium-ion cathode - to form the high-performance battery.

By exploiting a new chemistry based on a combination of a stable, high performance anode with a morphologically and structurally optimized cathode, the researchers obtained a novel type of lithium ion battery.

These unique features make the battery a very promising energy storage for powering low or zero emission HEV or EV vehicles, they say. This battery is a top candidate for powering sustainable vehicles.

According to the researchers, the advanced lithium ion battery offers about 100 high rate cycles of rate capability and energy density of the order of 170 Wh/kg.

The conventional lithium-ion batteries have an energy density of about 120-150 Wh/kg, depending on the used cathode material, a report on PhysOrg.com said, quoting researcher Bruno Scrosati of the University of Rome Sapienza.

This work was carried out within the WCU (World Class University) program through the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation by Education, Science, and Technology.

Making these sustainable vehicles a reality still depends on the availability of suitable energy storage systems such as, ideally, high energy lithium ion batteries. Further improvements in terms of energy and power density, however, are still required for making these systems suitable for application in the electric vehicle sector, the researchers say.