{"677026":{"#nid":"677026","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Battery Cathode Material Could Revolutionize EV Market and Energy Storage","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA multi-institutional research team led by Georgia Tech\u2019s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/people\/hailong-chen\u0022\u003EHailong Chen\u003C\/a\u003E has developed a new, low-cost cathode that could radically improve lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) \u2014 potentially transforming the electric vehicle (EV) market and large-scale energy storage systems.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFor a long time, people have been looking for a lower-cost, more sustainable alternative to existing cathode materials. I think we\u2019ve got one,\u201d said Chen, an associate professor with appointments in the George W.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EWoodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E and the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Materials Science and Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe revolutionary material, iron chloride (FeCl3), costs a mere 1-2% of typical cathode materials and canstore the same amount of electricity. Cathode materials affect capacity,\u0026nbsp;energy, and efficiency, playing a major role in a battery\u2019s performance, lifespan, and affordability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur cathode can be a game-changer,\u201d said Chen, whose team \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41893-024-01431-6\u0022\u003Edescribes its work in \u003Cem\u003ENature Sustainability\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cIt would greatly improve the EV market \u2014 and the whole lithium-ion battery market.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFirst commercialized by Sony in the early 1990s, LIBs sparked an explosion in personal electronics, like smartphones and tablets. The technology eventually advanced to fuel electric vehicles, providing a reliable, rechargeable, high-density energy source. But unlike personal electronics, large-scale energy users like EVs are especially sensitive to the cost of LIBs.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBatteries are currently responsible for about 50% of an EV\u2019s total cost, which makes these clean-energy cars more expensive than their internal combustion, greenhouse-gas-spewing cousins. The Chen team\u2019s invention could change that.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBuilding a Better Battery\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECompared to old-fashioned alkaline and lead-acid batteries, LIBs store more energy in a smaller package and power a device longer between charges. But LIBs contain expensive metals, including semiprecious elements like cobalt and nickel, and they have a high manufacturing cost.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo far, only four types of cathodes have been successfully commercialized for LIBs. Chen\u2019s would be the fifth, and it would represent a big step forward in battery technology: the development of an all-solid-state LIB.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EConventional LIBs use liquid electrolytes to transport lithium ions for storing and releasing energy. They have hard limits on how much energy can be stored, and they can leak and catch fire. But all-solid-state LIBs use solid electrolytes, dramatically boosting a battery\u2019s efficiency and reliability and making it safer and capable of holding more energy. These batteries, still in the development and testing phase, would be a considerable improvement.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs researchers and manufacturers across the planet race to make all-solid-state technology practical, Chen and his collaborators have developed an affordable and sustainable solution. With the FeCl3 cathode, a solid electrolyte, and a lithium metal anode, the cost of their whole battery system is 30-40% of current LIBs.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis could not only make EVs much cheaper than internal combustion cars, but it provides a new and promising form of large-scale energy storage, enhancing the resilience of the electrical grid,\u201d Chen said. \u201cIn addition, our cathode would greatly improve the sustainability and supply chain stability of the EV market.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESolid Start to New Discovery\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EChen\u2019s interest in FeCl3 as a cathode material originated with his lab\u2019s research into solid electrolyte materials.\u0026nbsp;Starting in 2019,\u0026nbsp;his lab tried to make solid-state batteries using chloride-based solid electrolyteswith traditional commercial oxide-based cathodes. It didn\u2019t go well \u2014 the\u0026nbsp;cathode and electrolyte\u0026nbsp;materials didn\u2019t get along.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers thought\u0026nbsp;a chloride-based cathode could provide a better pairing with the chloride electrolyte to offer better battery performance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe found a candidate\u0026nbsp;(FeCl3)\u0026nbsp;worth trying, as its crystal structure is potentially suitable for storing and transporting Li ions, and fortunately, it functioned as we expected,\u201d said Chen.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECurrently, the most popularly used cathodes in EVs\u0026nbsp;are oxides and\u0026nbsp;require a gigantic amount of costly nickel and cobalt, heavy elements that can be toxic and pose an environmental challenge. In contrast, the Chen team\u2019s cathode contains\u0026nbsp;only\u0026nbsp;iron (Fe) and chlorine (Cl)\u2014abundant, affordable, widely used elements found in steel and table salt.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn their initial tests, FeCl3 was found to perform as well as or better than the other, much more expensive cathodes. For example, it has a higher operational voltage than the popularly used cathode LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate, or LFP), which is the electrical force a battery provides when connected to a device, similar to water pressure from a garden hose.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis technology may be less than five years from commercial viability in EVs. For now, the team will continue investigating FeCl3 and related materials, according to Chen. The work was led by Chen and postdoc Zhantao Liu (the lead author of the study). Collaborators included researchers from Georgia Tech\u2019s Woodruff\u0026nbsp;School (Ting Zhu) and the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/home\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(Yuanzhi Tang), as well as the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ornl.gov\/\u0022\u003EOak Ridge National Laboratory\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(Jue Liu)\u0026nbsp;and the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/uh.edu\/\u0022\u003EUniversity of Houston\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(Shuo Chen).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe want to make the materials as perfect as possible in the lab and understand the underlying functioning mechanisms,\u201d Chen said. \u201cBut we are open to opportunities to scale up the technology and push it toward commercial applications.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION:\u003C\/strong\u003E Zhantao Liu, Jue Liu, Simin Zhao, Sangni Xun, Paul Byaruhanga, Shuo Chen, Yuanzhi Tang, Ting Zhu, Hailong Chen. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41893-024-01431-6\u0022\u003E\u201cLow-cost iron trichloride cathode for all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries.\u201d \u003Cem\u003ENature Sustainability\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFUNDING:\u003C\/strong\u003E National Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 1706723 and 2108688)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Research team led by Georgia Tech\u0027s Hailong Chen developed a low-cost cathode for all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA research team led by Georgia Tech\u2019s Hailong Chen has developed a low-cost iron chloride cathode for all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries, which could significantly reduce costs and improve performance for electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage systems.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A research team led by Georgia Tech\u2019s Hailong Chen has developed a low-cost iron chloride cathode for lithium-ion batteries, which could significantly reduce costs and improve performance for electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage systems."}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2024-09-22 21:36:54","changed_gmt":"2024-09-23 14:57:22","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-09-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-09-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"675067":{"id":"675067","type":"image","title":"Zhantao Liu","body":"\u003Cp\u003EZhantao Liu with the new low-cost cathode that could revolutionize lithium-ion batteries and the EV industry. \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Photo by Jerry Grillo\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1727040576","gmt_created":"2024-09-22 21:29:36","changed":"1727040717","gmt_changed":"2024-09-22 21:31:57","alt":"Zhantau Liu","file":{"fid":"258658","name":"Zhantao sly smile device.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/09\/22\/Zhantao%20sly%20smile%20device.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/09\/22\/Zhantao%20sly%20smile%20device.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":5681941,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/09\/22\/Zhantao%20sly%20smile%20device.jpg?itok=yXzUY_DS"}},"675066":{"id":"675066","type":"image","title":"Chen and Liu","body":"\u003Cp\u003EHailong Chen and Zhantao Liu present a new, low-cost cathode for all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries. \u0026nbsp; Photo by Jerry Grillo\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1727039834","gmt_created":"2024-09-22 21:17:14","changed":"1727040786","gmt_changed":"2024-09-22 21:33:06","alt":"Hailong Chen and Zhantao Liu","file":{"fid":"258657","name":"hailong zhantao cathode.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/09\/22\/hailong%20zhantao%20cathode.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/09\/22\/hailong%20zhantao%20cathode.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3817651,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/09\/22\/hailong%20zhantao%20cathode.jpg?itok=Z_xMCLb2"}}},"media_ids":["675067","675066"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"182627","name":"lithium ion batteries"},{"id":"172936","name":"cathodes"},{"id":"12819","name":"electric vehicles"},{"id":"184014","name":"Hailong Chen"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"189842","name":"battery energy storage"},{"id":"44511","name":"energy storage"},{"id":"186870","name":"go-imat"},{"id":"186858","name":"go-sei"},{"id":"188360","name":"go-bbiss"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"},{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}