Overview
Mixed metal oxides of lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt (NMC) are a class of electrode materials that can be used in the fabrication of lithium-ion batteries owing to their high thermal stability. Lithium-ion batteries incorporating such materials have higher capacity, cycle rates and power. Researchers will use penetration depth models and advanced spectroscopy techniques (nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy) to identify lithium-diffusion pathways in the electrodes. Lithium-ion batteries with ultrathick cathodes could find wide use in electric vehicles.
Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the UltraThick Las project aims to further improve the electrochemical performance of NMC batteries by developing ultrathick electrodes.
The proposal aims to improve the electrochemical power performance of NMC based generation 3b batteries through the development of ultra-thick electrodes. This will be done through the following objectives:
1.) Increased power performance in ultra-thick-film electrodes through the development of 3D electrode architectures
2.) Correlation of lithium-ion diffusion characteristics with 3D electrode architectures and related electrochemical performances through simple modeling via Penetration Depth Model (PDM)
3.) Establishment of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) techniques and Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) as complementary methods for identification of lithium-diffusion pathways in 3D electrodes
4.) Realization of optimized 3D electrode architectures for anodes and cathodes prepared with environmentally friendly water-based slurries.
This will be done through a multi-discipline approach that involves the following techniques and principles: laser based ablation, ablated materials recycling, water based formulation, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Penetration Depth Model. Laser ablation will be used to fabricate 3D microstructures in ultra-thick NMC (nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide) based electrodes to increase the electrode porosity and help attain optimum cell power density of upto 209 Wh/kg at 2C cycling. The optimization of the 3D ablation patterns will be done through the correlating the electrode's power performance with its diffusion coefficient (determined via NMR imaging), electrode parameters and effective porosity via the PDM. Water based slurry formulation and ablated materials recycling will be done in conjunction to decrease production cost and allow laser ablation processing for electrodes closer to ""demonstration pilot level"" (TRL 5-6). Upon success of the project, NMC based generation 3b batteries can be realized for electric vehicle applications and we could reach on of the goals stated in Horizon 2021's Work Program."