Joint research from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and the Council for Scientific Research reports the development of a new ceramic electrode for lithium-ion batteries that can lead to cheaper, more efficient, and safer conventional batteries.
“What we have patented are new ceramic electrodes that are much safer and can work in a wider temperature interval,” says Alejandro Varez, co-author of the research.
To achieve this result, the researchers made ceramic sheets by way of thermoplastic extrusion molds.
“This technique allows making electrodes that are flat or tube-shaped, and these electrodes can be applied to any type of lithium-ion battery,” Varez says.
According to the researchers, the cost of production is low and it could easily be adapted into current lithium-ion battery production, making this an easy technology to move quickly to industrialization.
Further, the ceramic electrode consists of only active material.
“This is especially important in the case of electric vehicles, because if there is an accident and fire, conventional batteries can catch fire, and it is very difficult to extinguish,” says Jean Yves Sances, co-author of the research. “These new solid electrodes can’t burn, which contributes to improving the safety of the batteries.”
This from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid:
Another advantage of batteries that integrate these new electrodes is their efficiency, according to tests done by the researchers. These tests show an increase of specific capacity that is nearly triple the capacity of commercial electrodes with the same density. And as this technique permits the fabrication of high-density electrodes (between 450 and 1000 microns), the storage capacity by area increases up to ten times the capacity of current technology.
