Battery Technology Posters

Accelerated Cell Aging

Ira Bloom, Benjamin Potter, and Gary Henriksen

Lithium-ion batteries have found uses in many consumer electronics. The batteries generally consist of a metal oxide cathode, a liquid organic solvent containing a dissolved ionic salt, and a carbon-based anode. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-supported FreedomCAR Partnership and others are also evaluating this class of batteries for use in hybrid electric vehicles. For this use, the batteries must exhibit <23% power fade over 15 years. However, SOA cells show higher rates of impedance increase and, hence, power fade. Thus, the 15-year life remains a challenge. The Advanced Technology Development Program was established by DOE to investigate key issues affecting the calendar and cycle life of high-power lithium-ion batteries. These issues include capacity loss, impedance rise, and power fade. For the purposes of this study, two different lots of high-power 18650-sized cells were built to our specifications containing commercially available chemistries. The only difference between the two is in the composition of the positive material. The cells were subjected to accelerated calendar and cycle life tests according to standards established by the FreedomCAR programs.

Contact Ira Bloom (630-252-4516, bloom@cmt.anl.gov). View Poster

Advanced Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

John (Jack) Vaughey and Michael Thackeray

Since their introduction around 1990, lithium-ion batteries have found numerous uses in the consumer and commercial marketplace. The cells themselves have changed little since their introduction, although numerous improvements have been introduced, notably in the cathode and electrolyte components. Although the graphite anode has been engineered to increase performance, abuse tolerance, and stability, it is not ideal for every application. We have been investigating alternative anodes that have equal or higher capacity while offering a higher margin of abuse tolerance. For these systems we have investigated several binary alloys that insert lithium to make a ternary alloy, including Cu₆Sn₅, MnSb, InSb, and Cu₂Sb. Data will be presented discussing detailed studies of structural transitions, electrochemical, and theoretical studies used to gain a more in-depth understanding of their properties and possible uses in lithium-ion battery systems.

Work supported by U.S. Department of Energy, FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies, and Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences.

Contact Jack Vaughey (630-252-8885, vaughey@cmt.anl.gov). View poster

Advanced Cathode Materials

Christopher S. Johnson and Michael M. Thackeray

Advanced batteries are key enabling technologies for fulfilling our nation’s future energy conversion and storage needs. In this work we are developing new and improved cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries. Present technology makes use of lithium-cobalt metal oxide (LiCoO₂) in the cathode formulation, which is more costly and particularly susceptible to instability on over-charge in the cell. Future lithium-ion batteries will be larger and more broadly used in transportation applications (electric vehicles and advanced lithium-ion hybrid electric vehicles) and thus will require a cathode that is based on safer, less costly, and more abundant lithium-manganese oxides (LiMnO₂ layered/LiMn₂O₄ spinel). This poster will highlight our strategy and the material/electrochemical science behind these novel manganese cathode materials that have been conceived, synthesized and characterized in our laboratory.

Work supported by U.S. Department of Energy, FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies, and Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences.

Contact Chris Johnson (630-252-4787, johnsoncs@cmt.anl.gov). View poster

Advanced Materials and Cell Chemistries for HEV Application

Jun Liu, Khalil Amine, and Gary Henriksen

The U.S. Department of Energy sponsors the Advanced Technology Development (ATD) Program to assist the industrial developers of high-power lithium-ion batteries to overcome the barriers of cost, calendar life, and abuse tolerance so that this technology may be rendered practical for use in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) under the FreedomCAR Partnership. All three of these barriers can be addressed by the choice of materials used in the cell chemistry. Our approach is to obtain the most advanced low-cost materials from international material suppliers and evaluate them for use in high-power HEV and FCEV applications. We develop, refine, and employ standard screening test protocols for the various types of cell materials and components. The results of these screening tests are shared with the international material suppliers, along with recommendations for making their materials and components more optimal for high-power applications. In many cases, we have helped the industrial material suppliers refine their materials for use in HEV and FCEV batteries.

This work is supported by DOE’s FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Office, Energy Storage Team.

Contact Jun Liu (630-252-7868, liuj@cmt.anl.gov. View poster

Diagnostic Analysis of Lithium-Ion Cells

Daniel Abraham, Andrew Jansen, Gary Henriksen and Dennis Dees

High-power lithium-ion cells for transportation applications are being studied as part of the Advanced Technology Development (ATD) program. Lithium-ion cells, ranging in capacity from 1 mAh to 1 Ah, are built and tested to determine suitable electrode-electrolyte combinations that will meet the calendar life, safety and cost goals of the ATD program. The cells are aged and/or cycled according to established test procedures to determine changes in capacity and power performance. After test completion, the cell components are examined by various diagnostic tools to determine the nature and extent of physical, chemical, and structural changes that cause the degradation in cell performance. Our data show that cell capacity and power loss are mainly governed by the chemical and electrochemical side reactions that occur at the electrode-electrolyte interface. Data from electrochemical characterization and from various materials analysis techniques will be presented to support the conclusions of our study.

This work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program, Energy Storage R&D.

Contact Daniel Abraham (630-252-4332, abraham@cmt.anl.gov). View Poster

Low-Temperature Performance of Lithium-Ion Batteries

Andrew N. Jansen, Dennis Dees, and Khalil Amine

Lithium-ion batteries are rapidly becoming the battery of choice for portable electronic devices such as laptops, cell phones, and cameras. They have also received much interest for use in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), which require high power. While lithium-ion batteries have abundant power at room temperature, their power is poor at the low temperatures that HEVs will experience in their normal usage. The goal of this work is to determine the reason for this power loss using in situ micro reference electrodes coupled with electrochemical performance characterization over a wide temperature range of 40 to -30°C.

This research is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program.

Contact Andy Jansen (630-252-4956, jansen@cmt.anl.gov) View Poster

Electrochemical Modeling of Lithium-Ion Cells

Dennis Dees, Evren Gunen, Daniel Abraham, and Andrew Jansen

This electrochemical modeling effort is aimed at examining the impedance rise in lithium-ion technology cells. The overall goal of this work is to associate changes that are seen in the post-test diagnostic studies with the loss of electrochemical performance of lithium-ion cells. The approach taken in this effort is to develop a model based on analytical diagnostic studies, establish the model parameters, and conduct parametric studies with the model. The parametric studies are conducted to gain confidence with the model, examine degradation mechanisms, and analyze cell limitations. To accomplish these tasks two versions of the model have been developed. One version simulates the cell response from AC impedance studies, and another model version is utilized for examining DC tests. Both of these experimental techniques are extensively used to quantify the cell’s electrochemical performance and those of its components. The underlying basis for both models is the same, as well as their parameter set. The modeling effort has concentrated on the positive electrode because of its importance in the cell’s overall impedance rise.

This work is supported by the Office of FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies, Energy Storage R&D, at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Contact Dennis Dees (630-252-7349, dees@cmt.anl.gov). View poster

Materials-Level Thermal Abuse and Mitigation Study. Toward Safe Lithium-Ion Batteries

Ilias Belharouak, Wenquan Lu, and Khalil Amine

Despite the introduction of lithium-ion batteries in a wide range of applications, there are still safety concerns, associated mainly with the potential use of these batteries in large-scale applications such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). To understand the mechanisms responsible for the safety failure of the lithium-ion batteries, were have studied the thermal mitigation and materials-level abuse degree of different cell chemistries with regard to their overall battery performances. The effects of different variables including salt and solvents were evaluated as well as their concentration impact. The thermal degradation mechanisms of two potential cathode candidates Li(Ni_0.8Co_0.15Al_0.05)O₂ and Li(Ni_1/3Co_1/3Mn_1/3)O₂ were studied and the relationship between their structural stability and their thermal behavior was established.

Research funded by U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies.

Contact Ilias Belharouak (630-252-4450, belharouak@cmt.anl.gov). View Poster

First-Principles Modeling of the Stability of Layered Li Battery Electrodes

R. Benedek, R. Prasad,^a C. S. Johnson, J. Vaughey, and M. M. Thackeray
^aIIT-Kanpur, Kanpur, India

The performance of lithium batteries is intimately related to the mechanical and phase stability of the electrode materials during lithium insertion-extraction cycling. We employ computer simulation based on first-principles local-density-functional theory, using the VASP code, to explore electrode phase stability. Two examples are presented in this poster. The layered rhombohedral form of LiMnO₂, with structure R-3m, is stabilized against Jahn-Teller distortion by the introduction of dopants on the transition metal sublattice. A second application is the reaction of lithium with layered LixMO₂, where M is a transition element, by over-discharging the cathode (relative to a lithium metal anode) beyond the normal limit of x = 1.

Supported by U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Chemical Sciences Division.

Contact Roy Benedek (630-252-5063, benedek@cmt.anl.gov). View Poster

Miniature Rechargeable Battery for bion® Microstimulator

Khalil Amine and Qingzheng Wang

bion® microstimulators are implantable devices that are designed to provide functional and therapeutic electrical stimulation in patients with a wide variety of neurological impairments, including stroke, spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s disease, and cerebral palsy. The devices require a miniaturized, highly reliable, safe and rechargeable power source with integrated battery management technologies. In collaboration with Quallion LLC and the University of Wisconsin, we developed a reachargeable lithium-ion battery based on the chemistry of highly conductive siloxane electrolytes. The siloxane electrolytes are superior to other polymer-based electrolytes because of their excellent chemical and thermal stability, resistance to oxidation and reduction (which reduces battery life), and their low toxicity (essential for medical applications). The lithium battery based on the siloxane chemistry can offer an outstanding cyclic life of more than 10 years.

This research is supported by the NIST Advanced Technology Development Program through Quallion, LLC.

Contact Khalil Amine (630-252-3838, amine@cmt.anl.gov). View Poster

Development of Advanced High-Energy Cathode Materials for Power Vest for Future Force Warriors

Sun-Ho Kang and Khalil Amine

Military personnel equipment is loaded with many advanced electronics – for communications, navigation, imaging, sensors, etc. – that require reliable mobile power sources. Although most of the current military users are consuming primary batteries as mobile power sources, rechargeable systems are considered as alternative or next-generation power sources for military applications due to their benefits in cost saving and logistics. Among the various kinds of rechargeable batteries, the lithium-ion (polymer) system is superior to others (such as Ni-Cd and Ni-MH) because of its smaller size, lighter weight, and higher energy density. Supported by the U.S. Army, we have developed an advanced rechargeable lihtium-ion chemistry with siloxane polymer electrolyte as a new power source for the “Power Vest” of the Future Force Warrior. In general, performance requirements for military-grade portable power sources are much more demanding than for commercial batteries, especially in energy density and thermal safety. In this poster we describe research efforts to develop advanced cathode materials with high capacity, low cost, and enhanced thermal safety to meet the very challenging performance requirements for military applications.

Research supported by U.S. Army CECOM through Quallion LLC.

Contact Sun-Ho Kang (630-252-4212, kangs@cmt.anl.gov). View Poster