@helloween Thanks @dalesio_98, that means $HPQ and $PYR are in the right track : "Lithium metal anode batteries are considered the holy grail of batteries because they have ten times the capacity of commercial graphite anodes and could drastically increase the driving distance of electric vehicles,” said Xin Li, Associate Professor of Materials Science at SEAS and senior author of the paper. “Our research is an important step toward more practical solid state batteries for industrial and commercial applications.”
One of the biggest challenges in the design of these batteries is the formation of dendrites on the surface of the anode. These structures grow like roots into the electrolyte and pierce the barrier separating the anode and cathode, causing the battery to short or even catch fire.
In this new research, Li and his team stop dendrites from forming by using MICRON-SIZE SILICON particles in the anode to constrict the lithiation reaction and facilitate homogeneous plating of a thick layer of lithium metal.
In this design, when lithium ions move from the cathode to the anode during charging, the lithiation reaction is constricted at the shallow surface and the ions attach to the surface of the silicon particle but don’t penetrate further. This is markedly different from the chemistry of liquid lithium ion batteries in which the lithium ions penetrate through deep lithiation reaction and ultimately destroy silicon particles in the anode.
But, in a solid state battery, the ions on the surface of the silicon are constricted and undergo the dynamic process of lithiation to form lithium metal plating around the core of silicon.
“In our design, lithium metal gets wrapped around the silicon particle, like a hard chocolate shell around a hazelnut core in a chocolate truffle,” said Li.
These coated particles create a homogenous surface across which the current density is evenly distributed, preventing the growth of dendrites. And, because plating and stripping can happen quickly on an even surface, the battery can recharge in only about 10 minutes.
The researchers built a postage stamp-sized pouch cell version of the battery, which is 10 to 20 times larger than the coin cell made in most university labs. The battery retained 80% of its capacity after 6,000 cycles, outperforming other pouch cell batteries on the market today. The technology has been licensed through Harvard Office of Technology Development to Adden Energy, a Harvard spinoff company cofounded by Li and three Harvard alumni. The company has scaled up the technology to build a smart phone-sized pouch cell battery. 8 about 3 hours ago
@deedeemgee Thanks for spelling it out @helloween. As a reminder for those of us who haven’t been paying attention to the real breakthrough technological advancement the company has achieved, here is what HPQ announced almost a YEAR ago in February regarding their plans to focus on micron sized silicon:
“To facilitate the early move toward production and to enter the market as quickly as possible, the Company, with input from Novacium, is developing plans to create an initial production facility that can produce 200 TPY of micron-size Si and SiOx powders for battery applications by 2024”