A new battery-imaging technique could bring about a new age in renewable energy, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This new development could change the nature of powering electronics including smartphones, tablets and more.
X-ray imaging is being used in a unique way to picture electrochemical reactions in lithium-ion batteries that use iron fluoride in their structure.
"In the past, we weren't able to truly understand what is happening to iron fluoride during battery reactions because other battery components were getting in the way of getting a precise image," said Linsen Li, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison).
A lithium-ion system is used in some forms of batteries, but the material presents two main problems. The first is that recharging is not very efficient. Powering up these storage devices is similar to filling a cup only halfway the first time it is filled, and even less each subsequent time. The second issue with the devices is that they do not release as much energy as they take in, further reducing their ability to run electronic devices over longer periods of time.
X-ray imaging of lithium-ion batteries is often impossible due to other materials blocking the view of chemical reactions as they take place. The research team overcame this problem by eliminating signals that would otherwise prevent accurate measurements of the electrochemical activity.
This new imaging method is capable of pinpointing specific reactions in an effort to determine why capacity decay takes place within these energy storage devices. One of the findings of this research is that these batteries exhibit superior performance when the iron fluoride is filled with holes, similar to the structure of a sponge. Such systems could provide longer life to the consumer-level batteries before devices need to be recharged, researchers told the press.
"If we can maximize the cycling performance and efficiency of these low-cost and abundant iron fluoride lithium-ion battery materials, we could advance large-scale renewable energy storage technologies for electric cars and microgrids," Song Jin, a professor of chemistry at UW-Madison, said.
Future research will further examine ways that energy efficiency may be improved in batteries to develop next-generation electrical storage devices to power a wide range of consumer electronics as well as supply storage for commercial generators. This method could also be used to design and manufacture new varieties of solar cells, potentially leading to vast improvements in the efficiency of these green energy devices.
Development of the new X-ray imaging technique for lithium-ion batteries was profiled in the journal Nature Communications.
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