Nanowire modification on Li-ion

SByer · 12-19-2007, 12:09 PM

By using silicon nanowires, the capacity of Li-ion batteries could be greatly boosted. Something to watch.

tonybelding · 12-19-2007, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SByer

By using silicon nanowires, the capacity of Li-ion batteries could be greatly boosted. Something to watch.

For convenience, here's a repeat of the same info I posted in the other thread (PHEVs Moving In). . .

Some researchers contacted by Chemistry World questioned whether the technique would be useful for commercial batteries. 'The most appealing result is obviously the high cycling capacity that these materials are able to deliver,' said one leading expert on lithium battery anodes, who asked not to be named. 'However, the test is limited to only 10 cycles and this is far too few to determine the industrial impact of the electrode. Also, the rate of the cycling test is very low and thus the power capability, another important practical requisite, has not been ascertained.'

Full article here: http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/Ne...r/17120702.asp

Also this. . .

"It's a really nice proof of concept," says Gerbrand Ceder, a materials scientist and battery expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. Making lithium ion batteries capable of holding 10 times the charge of conventional versions still requires a cathode that holds 10 times the charge, too, Ceder says. However, he adds, incorporating a silicon nanowire-based anode could allow batterymakers to reduce the weight and volume of the anode and add more cathode material in its place, which could give lithium batteries a power boost.

Full article here: http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi...ll/2007/1217/2

TEG · 12-19-2007, 04:10 PM

That is an exciting development. The nanotechnology is reminiscent of the ultracap breakthrough that MIT had previously announced (but has yet to show up commercially). Using nanotech like that for Li-Ion would make it much easier for Tesla since the voltage characteristics of batteries are easier to deal with than the behavior of ultracapacitors.

Still, a lab breakthrough doesn't always mean production ready anytime soon (if ever).

vfx · 12-19-2007, 06:08 PM

Great!

Let's hope the 10 fold increase does not also apply to the price....

JRP3 · 12-28-2007, 05:58 AM

I see this as more of an advancement in durability and cycle life than capacity, and I don't know if it's any improvement over what Altairnano has already achieved.

vfx · 12-28-2007, 09:23 AM

Very good interview here:
GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Concept Site » GM-Volt.com: Interview with Dr. Cui, Inventor of Silicon Nanowire Lithium-ion Battery Breakthrough

JRP3 · 01-04-2008, 05:42 PM

Another report, don't hold your breath on this one:

Quote:

The downside is that the nanowire growth process that Cui uses, which feeds gaseous silicon to a liquid gold catalyst to make the solid electrode, is a high-temperature (600 to 900 °C) process that could be costly to scale up. Cui believes that scale-up of the vapor-liquid-solid process is nevertheless feasible, but he acknowledges that he is also "exploring another approach."
Ohio State University chemist Yiying Wu, who also works on nanowire electrodes, calls the Stanford work "definitely very important." But Wu and other materials scientists caution that additional advances will be required before lithium batteries with nanowire electrodes deliver major increases in performance of electric-vehicle batteries. Not least is the need to scale up the process of making nanowires, which have yet to be mass-produced for commercial application.
Another limitation is that while Cui's silicon nanowires make great anodes, lithium-battery technology has greater need for improved cathodes. In a given battery, substituting an anode that stores more lithium ions has no impact without a corresponding cathode that can supply more charge.

Technology Review: Super-Charging Lithium Batteries