THE LATEST RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT NEWS IN MANUFACTURING AND TECHNOLOGYTECH FRONT Promising Magnesium Ion EV Battery Progress t C
an a new class of batteries powered by magnesium-ion outperform and eventually replace the current lithium- ion (Li-ion) batteries used in electric vehicles? A new study from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) shows that using magnesium ions in place of lithium ions could result in batteries that signifi cantly outperform the lithium-based batteries commonly used in today’s EVs. In research published online, in advance of print in the journal Advanced Materials, the scientists contend that magnesium shows greater potential for higher-performing next-generation EV batteries than those based on Li-ion technology. “Because magnesium is an ion that carries two positive charges, every time we introduce a mag- nesium ion in the structure of the battery material, we can move twice as many electrons,” said Jordi Cabana, UIC assistant professor of chemistry and principal investigator on the study. “We hope that this work will open a credible design path for a new class of high-voltage, high-energy batteries.” While in its early stages, the research does show the potential for magnesium-ion batteries powering future EVs. An abstract of the paper, “Direct Observation of Reversible Magnesium Ion Intercalation into a Spinel Oxide Host,” is available online at
http://tinyurl.com/npa3n5l. The research is part of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), a Department of Energy Innovation Hub led by Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne, IL) targeting advances in battery performance.
Batteries consist of a positive and negative electrode and
an electrolyte. The electrodes exchange electrons and ions, which are usually of positive charge. Only ions fl ow through the electrolyte, which is an electric insulator so as to force the electrons to fl ow through the external circuit to power the vehicle or device. To recharge the battery, the exchange is reversed. But the chemical reaction is not perfectly effi cient, which limits how many times the battery can be recharged. “The more times you can do this back and forth, the more times you will be able to recharge your battery and still get
the use of it between charges,” Cabana said. “In our case, we want to maximize the number of electrons moved per ion, because ions distort the structure of the electrode material when they go in or leave. The more the structure is distorted, the greater the energy cost of moving the ions back and the harder it becomes to recharge the battery.
Jordi Cabana, assistant professor of chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, was the principal investigator on the magnesium ion study.
“Like a parking garage, there are only so many spaces for the cars,” Cabana added. “But you can put a car in each space with more people inside without distorting the struc- ture.” Having established that magnesium can be reversibly inserted into electrode material’s structure brings us one step closer to a prototype, he said. While the fi ndings are exciting, the scientists noted that this concept remains to be demonstrated. “It’s not a battery yet, it’s a piece of a battery, but with the same reaction you would fi nd in the fi nal device,” said Cabana. The research team includes Chunjoong Kim, postdoctoral
research associate, UIC chemistry, who was fi rst author of the paper, and postdoctoral research colleagues and research fac- ulty from UIC’s chemistry and physics departments. Collaborat-
June 2015 |
AdvancedManufacturing.org 35
Photo courtesy Joshua Clark
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