Water could be the key to producing a cheaper, more environmentally friendly and less dangerous way of making the lithium-ion batteries that power so many everyday gadgets, researchers say.
Currently, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are typically found in mobile devices such as cellphones, laptops and tablet computers, and increasingly used in hybrid and electric vehicles. "The application of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles is hindered by their high cost", researcher Jianlin Li told. Currently, more than 80 percent of the costs of making lithium-ion batteries are due to materials and the processing of those materials.
All batteries generate electricity by flowing electric current between two electrodes - a positively charged cathode and a negatively charged anode. Cathodes make up about 70 percent of the total cost of high-power batteries, and the organic solvent used to make the lithium ion battery cathodes, N-methylpyrrolidone or NMP, is expensive, toxic and generates flammable vapors. Making batteries with this solvent also requires expensive, explosion-proof processing equipment and costly solvent recovery and recycling system.
Instead of using NMP, the researchers say they can replace it with a system that uses water, which is much safer, greener and at least 150 times cheaper than the organic solvent.
Replacing NMP with water is tricky because the slurries, or fluids containing the materials used to make the battery's electrodes, behaves in very different ways if water is employed. For instance, water-based slurries are typocally not as good at coating the current collector, the material that gathers electric charge from the electrode."While it seems quite straight forward to substitute expensive and toxic NMP with water in battery manufacturing, it is very complicated and requires extensive knowledge in science and engineering to realize it", Li said.
Previous work could help scientists manufacture lithium-ion battery anode using water. However, until now, no one has been successful with both anode and cathode.
Using this method, the researchers have created a battery that features excellent performance comparable to conventional batteries. Replacing NMP with water promises to reduce the overall costs of lithium-ion batteries by about one-eighth, and the whole process is much more environmentally benign. This allows the battery manufacturing more sustainable and affordable.
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