“It opens up a lot of possibilities.”

Researchers from Caltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have discovered a way to extend the life and performance of lithium-ion batteries, one of the most commonly used rechargeable batteries, according to a published school paper on Xplore Technology.

From our cell phones to our laptops and even electric vehiclesmany of us use lithium-ion batteries every day, even if technology is still in development.

THE paper“Suppression of transition metal dissolution in Mn-rich layered oxide cathodes with graphene nanocomposite dry coatings,” detailed the team’s testing of the dry coating using graphene.

David Boyd, a senior researcher at Caltech, has spent the last decade developing techniques for making graphene. This material is only one atom thick but is incredibly strong, and it conducts electricity better than other materials like silicon.

Boyd and his colleagues had a breakthrough in 2015, when they realized they could produce high-quality graphene at room temperature. This discovery sparked a search for new applications for graphene, leading Boyd to team up with Will West, a technologist at JPL specializing in electrochemistry and battery improvement. technology.

The duo began their research to determine whether graphene could improve upon lithium-ion. batteries. Their experiments proved that it was possible.

Batteries produce electrical energy by first creating chemical energy between the two ends of the battery, the cathode and the anode.

Transition metal dissolution (TMD) — the process by which transition metals from the cathode move toward the anode, reducing performance — is why cobalt cathodes are used. They reduce the TMD, but scientists are looking for a more sustainable substitute for cobalt.

The Caltech article points out that much of the world’s cobalt supply is found in the Democratic Republic of Congo and is mined by independent workers, often children, who make very little or no money doing this work dangerous.

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Boyd and West knew that the typical process of applying graphene to a cathode would destroy the cathode material, so they tried a different method: dry coating.

Dry coating has been used for decades by the pharmaceutical industry to extend the life of pills, and Boyd and West have found success using this method to coat and protect the product. battery cathodes.

Their results included a reduction in TMD, a doubling battery lifespan and the ability of batteries to operate over a wider temperature range.

“This is also a step forward for coating technologies in general,” Boyd said, according to the article on Tech Xplore. “This opens up many possibilities for the use of dry coatings.”

This new development could go a long way toward making batteries more affordable, charge faster and last longer. It could also be a step forward in sustainability.

Carbon, of which graphene is a form, is much more widely available than cobalt and is environmentally friendly.

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