With the rapid development of battery technology, new energy vehicles and energy storage systems have been widely used. However, the problem of battery life is becoming increasingly prominent, and the disposal of a large number of used batteries has become an important issue to be solved urgently.
In response to this challenge, Professor Peng Huisheng and the team of young researcher Gao Yue of Fudan University proposed an innovative strategy: they developed a "one-shot" method to replenish lithium ions in a non-destructive way, so as to achieve "regeneration" of battery capacity and extend its service life. This approach not only provides a new way to solve the problem of waste battery disposal, but also has the potential to significantly improve the overall performance and sustainability of the battery. This breakthrough technology is expected to play an important role in the field of energy storage in the future.
This process increases the battery cycle life from 500 to 2,000 to 60,000 charges, significantly extending the life of the battery without the need for costly dismantling or recycling.
The findings were published Wednesday in the internationally renowned academic journal Nature.
Lithium-ion batteries are made up of four main parts: a positive electrode, a negative electrode, a separator, and an electrolyte containing lithium ions. During normal use, lithium ions transfer energy between the positive and negative electrodes. However, over time, some of the lithium ions form deposits that become so-called "dead lithium", a process that gradually reduces the concentration of lithium ions in the electrolyte, thereby reducing the battery's ability to recharge. A battery is considered to be dead when its capacity drops below 80% of its initial value.
Gao Yue, corresponding author of the paper, said: "Once the lithium ions are depleted to a certain extent, the battery will become unusable. This is the basic principle that has been followed since the advent of lithium-ion batteries in 1990. ”
To solve this problem, the researchers treated the battery as a "sick" patient, believing that if the damaged part was found and repaired, the battery could be revived. Gao Yue explains: "We studied the basic principle of batteries, and after repeated experiments, we found that batteries fail in a similar way to human illness. That being the case, why not develop materials to replenish lithium-ion and extend battery life, just like treating disease?”
Figure: Fudan University has developed new technologies to significantly extend the life of lithium-ion batteries
The research team successfully extended the life of the battery by injecting organic lithium salts to replace the "dead lithium". Because this process can be repeated, the life cycle of the battery can be increased from 500 to 2,000 charges to a maximum of 60,000 charges.
As China's first generation of new energy vehicles enter the end-of-life period, the domestic battery recycling and disposal industry has come under pressure. According to the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, China retired more than 580,000 tons of new energy vehicle batteries in 2023. ASKCI predicts that this figure could increase to 3.5 million tonnes per year in 2030.
Yao Ruiqi, a chemist at Northeast Normal University, said that in the future, China should pay more attention to developing batteries that are sustainable and have a long service life. "With the popularization of electric vehicles and energy storage systems, extending battery life will greatly reduce the replacement cost of users and improve the economy of batteries."
Yao also said that battery injection technology may also have an impact on grid energy storage, as extending the life of these batteries will significantly reduce operating costs in the power industry.
At present, China is the world's largest producer of lithium-ion batteries, accounting for about 70% of the world's total production. At the same time, China is also an important consumer market for lithium-ion batteries, which are used to support a growing new energy fleet and store renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power.
However, the rapid growth of the battery industry also brings environmental challenges, especially pollution from battery production and disposal. In addition, the widespread use of lithium-ion batteries has given rise to an unregulated grey recycling market, and concerns have been raised about fire incidents caused by such markets.
