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A battery with solid electrodes and electrolytes to improve safety, cycle life, and charging times.
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Definition: Solid state batteries rely on a solid electrolyte membrane with solid positive and negative electrode materials. During charge or discharge, ions travel through an ion-conductive solid matrix (instead of moving through an ionic salt dissolved in a solvent) to allow the charge or discharge reactions to occur.
Usage: Although the use of rechargeable solid-state batteries in electric vehicles has drawn the most attention, it is in consumer electronics that this new technology could make its impact felt first. Many kinds of next-generation batteries are under development, but solid-states are the furthest along and may soon find practical applications.
Safety: Because most liquid electrolytes are considered to be flammable, solid-state batteries are believed to be safer. As fewer safety systems are needed, a more compact battery is possible, improving energy and power densities.
Advantages: Solid-state batteries promise a few distinct advantages over their liquid-filled cousins: better battery life, faster charging times, and a safer experience. Solid-state batteries compress the anode, cathode, and electrolyte into three flat layers instead of suspending the electrodes in a liquid electrolyte. That means they can be smaller—or at least, flatter—while holding as much energy as a larger liquid-based battery. So, if the the lithium-ion or lithium-polymer battery is replaced in the phone or laptop with a solid-state battery the same size, it would get a much longer charge. Solid-state batteries are also safer, since there’s no toxic, flammable liquid to spill, and they don’t output as much heat as conventional rechargeable batteries. When applied to batteries that power current electronics or even electric cars, they might recharge much faster, too—ions could move much more quickly from the cathode to the anode. According to the latest research, a solid-state battery could outperform conventional rechargeable batteries by 500% or more in terms of capacity, and charge up in a tenth of the time.
Disadvantages: Because solid-state batteries are an emerging technology, they’re incredibly expensive to manufacture. So expensive, in fact, that they aren’t installed in any major consumer-grade electronics. Part of this is because the economies of scale aren’t in place—hundreds of millions of rechargeable batteries are made each year right now, so the manufacturing cost of the materials and equipment are spread out across huge supply lines. There are only a few companies and universities researching solid-state batteries, so the cost to produce each one is astronomical.Another issue is the materials. While the properties of various metals, alloys, and metallic salts used for conventional rechargeable batteries is well-known, we don’t currently know the best chemical and atomic composition for a solid electrolyte between metallic anodes and cathodes. Current research is narrowing this down, but we need to gather more reliable data before we can gather or synthesize the materials and invest in manufacturing processes.
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Jul 07, 2020
Volkswagen said Tuesday it has invested another $200 million into QuantumScape, a Stanford University spinout developing solid-state batteries as the automaker bets on a next-generation technology that will unlock longer ranges and faster charging times in electric vehicles.
Jul 04, 2020
Researchers at Brown University come up with a mechanically tough solid-state electrolyte for lithium-Ion Batteries.
Mar 11, 2020
Global battery powerhouse Samsung's Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) and the Samsung R&D Institute Japan (SRJ) just published a new study highlighting its next generation solid state battery. The new lithium metal solid state battery delivers better energy density than more traditional lithium-ion batteries and promises to usher in a new generation of batteries to power all our devices
Feb 05, 2020
An MIT team has devised a lithium metal anode that could improve the longevity and energy density of future batteries. It involves a combination of solid materials known as mixed ionic-electronic conductors (MIEC) and electron and Li-ion insulators (ELI). These were built into a three-dimensional honeycomb-shaped architecture, with an array of nanoscale tubes made from MIEC forming the crucial piece of the puzzle. These tubes are infused with solid lithium metal to form the battery’s anode. The extra space inside each of these tubes allows room for expansion.
Jan 14, 2020
IBM says its battery combines three new materials (which it hasn’t disclosed) that can be optimized for a host of different characteristics, including lower cost, faster charging time, higher power and energy density, energy efficiency, and low flammability. Simulating the three molecules will help us better understand how their behavior will affect important properties like energy storage and discharge, but it can take huge amounts of computing power. Quantum computers hold the promise of doing these kinds of simulations much more efficiently.
Nov 27, 2019
Researchers at Australia's Deakin University say they've managed to use common industrial polymers to create solid electrolytes, opening the door to double-density solid state lithium batteries that won't explode or catch fire if they overheat.
Jun 11, 2019
Ion Storage Systems, a College Park-based energy startup, raised $8 million in funding as it looks to begin manufacturing of its solid state, flammable-free rechargeable batteries.
May 24, 2019
By synthesizing a novel material for electrodes that facilitate reversing of the chemistry of ions, a group of researchers led by Prof. Idemoto from Tokyo University of Science combat the wasteful aspects of energy sources, by laying an important foundation for the production of next-generation rechargeable magnesium secondary batteries. The researchers are optimistic about this discovery and state, "We synthesized a rock salt type that has excellent potential for being used as the positive electrode material for next-generation secondary batteries."
May 21, 2019
Ionic Materials is developing a plastic, solid-state electrolyte to sit between a rechargeable battery’s anode and cathode. Since 2018, the company has been establishing partnerships and announcing investors, including the French oil and gas company Total, A123 Systems, Dyson, Samsung, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, and Volta Energy Technologies. “Getting below [$100/kWh] will be challenging, because the fundamental materials themselves are commodities. And the raw materials themselves have a certain price,” says Erik Terjesen (Senior Director of Ionic Materials).
May 15, 2019
Magnesium-ion batteries have potential if scientists can crack the problem of finding an efficient electrolyte. Now scientists have developed a solid-state material that appears to be one of the fastest conductors of magnesium-ions, which could lead to safer and more efficient batteries.
May 13, 2019
Goodbye internal combustion, hello electric – that’s the refrain from car manufacturers, many of which are promising to shift to emission-less vehicles, while governments galore have outlined plans to ban petrol and diesel within three decades. Vacuum genius Sir James Dyson has hailed that bandwagon, pledging £2.5 billion in R&D investment and 400 engineers to develop a UK edition.The British engineering firm hopes to have cars on the road by 2020, racing rival Toyota with the same roadmap to use solid-state batteries in electric vehicles within three years.
May 10, 2019
Solid-state batteries will power half of the electric vehicles in 2030, up from practically zero right now, predicts a Taiwanese company. As EV sales are expected to increase in the decades ahead, driven by tighter regulation, solid-state battery makers may become the next rising stars in the renewable energy industry.