The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Metal Tech News - October 14, 2024
KERI has discovered a method to quickly produce sodium-ion battery anode material using microwave technology.
(Front row, from left) Daeho Kim and Jong Hwan Park led the KERI research team that developed an ultrafast process for producing hard carbon, an anode material for sodium-ion batteries using microwaves.
A microwave magnetic field heats up polymer films with carbon nanotubes to produce hard carbon.
On the heels of an Argonne National Laboratory discovery that demonstrates slow heating is the secret to more durable and longer-lasting sodium-ion battery cathodes, a research team at the Nano Hybrid Technology Research Center of the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) found that the best way to prepare the anode material is to stick it in the microwave for 30 seconds.
"Our microwave induction heating technology enables fast and easy preparation of hard carbon, which I believe will contribute to the commercialization of sodium-ion batteries," said Daeho Kim, who co-led the KERI research team that developed the groundbreaking microwave process.
The commercialization of sodium-ion batteries is seen as a game changer that could significantly drive down the costs of clean energy storage and potentially transportation.
One of the reasons for this is that sodium, the main ingredient in table salt, is more than 1,000 times more abundant than lithium. Coupling this abundance with the fact that sodium is also easier to extract and refine, the cost to produce a sodium-ion battery's namesake mineral is significantly lower than its lithium-ion counterpart.
(Front row, from left) Daeho Kim and Jong Hwan Park led the KERI research team that developed an ultrafast process for producing hard carbon, an anode material for sodium-ion batteries using microwaves.
Sodium is also much more electrochemically stable than lithium when used in batteries, which means sodium-ion batteries can be charged and discharged much faster without concern over fire or explosions.
"Due to recent electric vehicle fires, there has been growing interest in sodium-ion batteries that are safer and function well in colder conditions, said Jong Hwan Park, co-lead of the KERI research team.
However, sodium-ion batteries have a couple of weak points that are holding back their commercialization, especially when it comes to powering electric vehicles. The first is that their energy density is much less than lithium-ion, which is partially offset by their rapid charging capacity. The second is that the performance of sodium-ion batteries declines rapidly with repeated charges and discharges.
When coupled with the slow-cooking cathode breakthrough made by researchers at Argonne National Lab, the KERI process to boost anode durability could overcome the barriers keeping sodium-ion batteries out of the commercial market.
Because sodium ions are larger than those of lithium, sodium-ion batteries cannot use the graphite that is standard anode material in lithium-ion batteries. Instead, sodium batteries require an anode made from hard carbon, which has a different crystal structure than graphite.
Because hard carbon is not found naturally, the material must be made by heating biomass or other carbon materials to temperatures exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,800 degrees Fahrenheit) in an oxygen-free environment for an extended period.
The burdensome financial and environmental costs of this carbonization process have held back the commercialization of sodium-ion batteries.
A microwave magnetic field heats up polymer films with carbon nanotubes to produce hard carbon.
KERI researchers Kim and Park proposed a rapid heating method using microwave technology. To accomplish this, they created films made from polymers with a small amount of highly conductive carbon nanotubes composed of carbon arranged in hexagonal honeycomb patterns. They then applied a microwave magnetic field to the films to induce currents in the carbon nanotubes, selectively heating the films to over 1,400 C (2,550 F) in just 30 seconds.
Kim and Park said the key to their success in quickly producing hard carbon for sodium-ion battery anodes with microwave technology lies in the research team's "multiphysics simulation" technique, which allowed them to have a profound understanding of the complex processes occurring when an electromagnetic field in the microwave bandwidth is applied to nanomaterials.
Moving forward, the team plans to continue working to improve the performance of their sodium-ion anode materials and develop technology for the continuous mass production of large-area hard carbon films.
The KERI researchers also see other potential applications for their microwave induction heating technology, such as the high-temperature sintering required to produce all-solid-state batteries.
A peer-reviewed paper detailing the KERI research team's microwave induction heating for ultrafast preparation of hard carbon anodes for sodium-ion batteries was published in the Chemical Engineering Journal on Sept. 15.
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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