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To improve the performance of these materials, Manthiram coated the particles with an electrically conductive polymer, which was itself treated with small amounts of a type of sulfonic acid. The coated nanoparticles were then incorporated into a small battery cell for testing. At slow rates of discharge, the materials showed an impressive capacity: at 166 milliamp hours per gram, the materials came close to the theoretical capacity of lithium iron phosphate, which is 170 milliamp hours per gram. This capacity dropped off quickly at higher discharge rates in initial tests. But Manthiram says that the new versions of the material have shown better performance.
It's still too early to say how much the new approach will reduce costs in the manufacturing of lithium iron phosphate batteries. The method's low temperatures can reduce energy demands, and the fact that it is fast can lead to higher production from the same amount of equipment--both of which can make manufacturing more economical. But the cost of the conductive polymer and manufacturing equipment also needs to be figured in, and the process must be demonstrated at large scales. The process will also need to compete with other promising experimental manufacturing methods, says Stanley Whittingham, a professor of chemistry, materials science, and engineering at the State University of New York, at Binghamton.
Manthiram has recently published advances for two other types of lithium-ion battery materials and is working with ActaCell, a startup based in Austin, TX, to commercialize the technology developed in his lab. The company, which last week announced that it has raised $5.58 million in venture funding, has already licensed some of Manthiram's technology, but it will not say which technology until next year.
New materials from MIT could power laser weapons or give hybrid cars jackrabbit acceleration.
Donald Sadoway conceived of a novel battery that could allow cities to run on solar power at night.
A new lithium-ion battery from A123 Systems could help electric cars and hybrids come to dominate the roads.
Theoretical capacity of lithium iron phosphate
Quote from article:
"the materials came close to the theoretical capacity of lithium iron phosphate, which is 170 milliamp hours per gram."
What causes this theoretical limit?
Re: Theoretical capacity of lithium iron phosphate
The theoretical capacity limit is based upon the number of Li-ions that can be transported from the cathode to the anode during discharging of the battery. The LiFePO4 (Lithium-iron phosphate) structure can only theoretically allow a certain number of Li-ions to vacate its structure while remaining stable and not collapsing. It is a physically allowable amount of Li-ions that can move from the cathode to the anode. For the actual equation that is used to calculate this just search on Google.
The worldwide supply of Lithium is severely constrained by the amount available as recoverable Lithium Carbonate & Lithium Chloride on surface of the Earth. Google will turn up the sources easily.
Over 80% of all Lithium salt deposits are in S. America, & thus S. America will be the OLEC "Organization of Lithium Exporting Countries" cartel. Great.
6.2 million tons of Lithium is the estimated world supply of Lithium and we used about 20,000 tons/yr in 2005.
Lithium is relatively expensive, difficult or economically undesirable to recycle and of limited supply and so I conclude, just from what I read, that Lion batteries are only an interim battery solution.
Altairnano's battery technology
Altairnano seems to be making some recent noise about their quick charge battery technology and using them in a Phoenix Motors product. How does that compare with the technology in this article?
Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That's bad news not just for the country's economy but for the future of innovation.
This document is part of the “How-To Guide for Most Common Measurements” centralized resource portal. This tutorial provides a detailed guide for measurement and device considerations to take temperature measurements using thermocouples. Get an introduction to thermocouples, which are inexpensive sensing devices widely used with PC-based data acquisition systems. Also review some specific thermocouple examples and learn how thermocouples work and ways to integrate them into a data acquisition measurement system.
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mkogrady
425 Comments
Residential Application
Assuming we're actually heading towards an Electric Car based society (world?) - how viable are these batteries as a means to store non-peak electricity to charge up your car. In essence, use the battery (in an array or large single unit) to capture cheap electricity at night, then charge your car batteries in the morning?
Are these units forecasted to be competative with Electrolyte Flow Cell battery solutions for smaller residential applications (ie 5Kva to 10Kva) - can the battery materials be reused to keep costs low as possible?
Final question - will development of these include using large industrial sized Microwave Ovens (ie room sized) to make larger crystals or more materials in a single pass??
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muraliganth
1 Comment
Re: Residential Application
Using Lithium battery to store the grid-power during off-peak hours to use it again for car batteries to minimize the cost is certainly a gud option, but may not be practical because of the need to use batteries twice (cost issue which is already an important criteria for making PHEV commercial).
Lithium technology can sure replace other batteries because of its high energy and volumetric density (light and small). It will keep on improving resulting in more energy and mileage replacing IC engine altogether within 2025..
reg Microwave for large scale production is still debatable..but will sure one day replace the conventional heating methods..(like how domestic microwave replaced conventional ovens from our kitchens)..
Reply
cobraphx
14 Comments
Re: Residential Application
If your car has a battery, why not just charge your car's battery at night when the rates are lowest? Why would you charge a separate battery in order to charge the car's battery? If you work at night, I guess it makes some sense... But I'm not sure the cost differential between daytime and nightime electricity rates is enough to offset the cost of a $2000-$5000 battery system, to store the cheaper of the 2 charges, especially when you take the efficiency losses in account. You'd be adding 5-10% losses for charging the storage battery and then discharging it to charge the car's battery.
If you are completely off the grid, and using the battery to buffer your daytime solar power, it makes a lot more sense.
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LDighera
13 Comments
Re: Residential Application
... "cheap electricity at night" ...
Actually the window for cheap electricity occurs between about midnight and 9am. Here's some historical information: Click to view
Here's the current demand for California: Click to view
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