The Battery Industry Has Grown Exponentially Over The Past Few Decades. Mordor Intelligence, One Of The World’s Largest Market Research Firms, Predicts That The Industry Will Have A Turnover Of $ 90 Billion By 2025.

Battery Industry, Over the past decade, large companies such as Tesla, Dyson, and Daimler have invested billions of dollars in the industry by building new factories or buying small companies.

Why has battery manufacturing become a money-making industry?

The price of lithium-ion batteries has dropped dramatically, leading to the widespread presence of these batteries in personal electronics and electric vehicles. In addition, many companies are looking for solar and wind energy storage, and private homeowners are looking for lithium-ion batteries for sustainable energy access.

However, with this massive growth, a lot of waste is generated. Unfortunately, most batteries are thrown in the trash, which greatly reduces their recovery rate. For example, the recycling rate of lithium-ion cells in the United States and Europe is only 5%. For this reason, researchers are looking for ways to recycle lithium-ion batteries better.

However, if this happens, we need to spread a culture where individuals and companies know the benefits of recycling batteries and not easily dispose of used batteries in the trash. Unfortunately, the amount of lithium available is limited.

Extraction of lithium and cobalt (widely used for the positive electrode of lithium-ion batteries) is achieved at great human and environmental costs.

In addition, cobalt has been very expensive in the last few years. Various problems facing the battery industry raise the question of whether it is possible to make cheaper and more environmentally-friendly batteries, use better and less hazardous materials, and use newer batteries shortly?

Various researchers are studying this issue. More than 300,000 patents on batteries have been patented since the 1990s. As many as 30,000 patents were registered in 2017 alone.

While many of these inventions are around lithium-ion technology, much research has been done on solid-state electrolytes, silicon-based anodes, lithium-air, graphene, and the like. Indeed, most of these batteries will not be as successful in the short term as lithium-ion batteries, but they set the stage for replacing lithium-ion batteries.

Here are some of the most popular options.

Lithium iron phosphate

Technically, lithium-iron-phosphate is another example of a lithium-ion battery. Still, it has significant advantages, including being cheaper, more energy-intensive, longer-lasting, and less flammable in the event of an internal rupture.

The downside of these batteries is their high weight, which prevents them from being used on mobile devices such as smartphones. Of course, these types of batteries still use lithium, and their recycling path is unknown.

Lithium-sulfur

Some experts believe that replacing lithium-ion energy storage with lithium-sulfur is better because these batteries are lighter and have a higher density. In addition, sulfur is abundant in nature and is cheaper.

What is the difference between lithium-sulfur batteries and lithium-ion batteries? Over the past 10 years, Professor Linda has conducted extensive research on lithium-sulfur batteries from Laboratory V at the University of Waterloo, Canada.

“Charging and discharging lithium-ion batteries is like getting cars in and out of the parking lot, but the process works with lithium-sulfur batteries in such a way that everything breaks down completely, and after the cell is recharged twice,” he says.

Reconstruction is done. The chemical reaction in this area is very similar to that of lead-acid batteries.

It is a reaction in which a complete structural and chemical transformation takes place. These batteries have their own advantages and disadvantages.

The research team based in the laboratory of the University of Waterloo is changing the components of this battery to increase the life cycle and optimize the internal reactions of the battery. If some important battery challenges are met, it is possible to use them in the aviation and drone industries. Zephyr aircraft and drones have now been able to fly long distances on an experimental basis, relying on the electrical energy produced by these batteries.

Sodium-ion

Interestingly, a periodic table element that is harmful to the heart works well for batteries. Research on sodium-ion batteries began in the 1970s, almost at the same time as lithium-ion energy storage. Both elements are adjacent to each other in the periodic table. Still, after that, lithium-ion accelerated, and sodium-ion was abandoned for three decades due to the less energy it provided.

“Sodium seems to be the best material around us,” said Professor Linda Nazar, whose lab is researching sodium-based energy storage.

Sodium-ion batteries can work with a variety of earth elements, especially those that cost less. However, it is challenging to get to the point where these elements work together seamlessly, as none have the same function as lithium.

According to Ms. Nazar, some companies think that investing in sodium-ion batteries is not worth much because the cost of making lithium-ion batteries is constantly decreasing.

“I think investing in making sodium-ion batteries is worth it,” he said. “Even if there is a one in a thousand chance that high-energy sodium-ion batteries will work well, a valuable step has been taken.”

Sugar

You may not believe it, but it is possible to make a battery with sugar easily. Sony first published a comprehensive report in 2007 on a research study on the reaction of maltodextrin to energy production. While material availability and environmental friendliness of sugar batteries are much higher than lithium-ion, but their chemical reaction is less than lithium-ion batteries.

Although the prototype was introduced in 2007, making sugar batteries has more work to do. In 2016, a research team from the MIT Institute led by Professor Michael Strano designed a Thermopower Wave device, which performed better than the original concept sugar batteries and turned on a commercial LED light. This approach was an exciting development because of the high sugar content.

So if we can find a way to make batteries, the process of commercialization and scalability will come to an end quickly. Unfortunately, we are still a few years away from the widespread availability of this technology in the form of a commercial product.

Current

The structure of a flow battery is different from other batteries. Instead of stacking several reactants together in a single package (like ordinary batteries), flow batteries use reactive liquids stored in separate chambers and then pumped into the system to generate energy. Of course, these batteries are large and used to store the energy needed by large installations and are not intended to power home appliances.

 The first current battery weighed about 454 kg and was invented in the late 19th century for the French airship.

However, there is less interest in building modular energy equipment. “Timothy Cook, a professor of chemistry at Buffalo University,” says, “I think the factor that makes companies interested in making current batteries is not the next generation of batteries for cell phones or personal computers, but the relatively large and medium energy storage for large industries and data centers,” he said.

The more homes use solar energy, the more the personal energy storage market will grow.

“This will allow you to use a current battery in the basement instead of a generator.”

While more powerful lithium-ion batteries mean an increase in battery size, the design of current-carrying batteries to increase energy increases the volume of the tanks. San Diego Power & Electric has recently installed a current-powered battery that can power 1,000 homes. “You do not need to change the size of the membrane,” says Cook.

The charging cycle of current batteries is longer than conventional batteries. The ability to replace liquids or replace other moving parts means that the potential life of these batteries is almost unlimited. Of course, the process of entering these batteries into the market is slow.

Even if companies decide to sell rechargeable batteries on an industrial scale, Professor Cook believes that it will take at least 5 to 10 years for these batteries to become popular. However, he believes that these batteries will eventually use in electric vehicles.

Paper

There are many benefits to making a battery out of paper. Paper is thin and flexible and decomposes in the environment if made with the right materials. A team from Stanford University has been able to create thin paper batteries by coating thin sheets of carbon and silver-saturated ink, which has won the admiration of environmentalists.

In this regard, Professor Seokun Choi was able to design several prototypes that work with human saliva and bacteria. In one of these examples, Mr. Choi and Professor Omonemi Sadik succeeded in designing a bio-battery that combines poly (amic) acid and paraphenylenediamine dihydride pyridine, classified as a biodegradable energy source.

While the commercial use of paper batteries is limited due to the low power output they generate (for example, they only power a LED lamp for 20 minutes), researchers hope that these batteries could use in wireless electronics, medical applications, and equipment. I used the Internet of Things.

Air

Air has the ability to become an electrical source. Candy-sized zinc-air batteries, which produce energy through the reaction between oxygen and zinc, have been used in the hearing aid industry for several years.

Zinc is expensive and widely available. For this reason, the technology is cost-effective and does not pose a risk to the environment but has limitations in recharging.

For example, dendritic crystals may form during charging, shortening battery life because they create a short circuit. That’s why researchers have conducted various experiments to replace zinc with other materials, an approach that is currently being tested in Singapore’s electric buses.

In addition, other experiments have been performed using lithium-air and metal-air batteries with varying degrees of energy density, power level, and cost.

Iron

A few years ago, Professor Peter Allen, a professor of chemistry at the University of Idaho, posted an interesting video about battery science on YouTube and found that people were interested in batteries and the materials used to make them.

So that he finally published a training program on how to make an iron battery. Immediately, various videos about how to build, the problems and challenges of making these batteries were posted on YouTube.

“I do not want to introduce myself as a battery maker, but my purpose in posting the videos was to show that you do not have to wait for companies to do it for you to make a cheap battery,” said the eminent professor of biological chemistry.

The idea of ​​making an iron battery is almost 100 years old, but some believe that investing in this technology is not profitable. I say come and try. “In any case, you will learn interesting points.”

After two years, he made more than 30 changes in the construction of these batteries. With the help of undergraduate students, he achieved the important point of how to balance liquid and solid materials to create the optimal amount of low-power energy density.

“Now we have a reaction that works, but it is slow. How do we increase the speed?” He says. “If we can meet this challenge, it will be possible to deploy iron batteries in solar power plants.”

Who is the winner of this field?

Is Allen Iron Battery Always Commercially Available? “I’m not sure this model of the battery can be mass-produced for general use,” he said. In my opinion, only a few inventions enter the market. You have done some basic, interesting basic research. There is a fundamental question as to whether these ideas can be mass-produced, whether large companies are persuaded to invest heavily in ideas that they are not sure are commercially viable.

And there is a gap between basic research and finding the best option for building a commercial battery.

“There is a concept in scientific research called the Valley of Death.” 

In 2019, venture capitalists invested $ 1.7 billion in battery startups, of which $ 1.4 billion was spent on lithium-ion battery research. Of course, flow batteries, zinc-liquid, liquid metal, and similar technologies succeeded in attracting investors.

While lithium-ion batteries will have a large market share for at least another 10 years, it is possiother technologies mayDeath Valley successful.