Fossil fuel consumption is the biggest threat to our environment, and steps are being taken all over the world for sustainable energy production and storage alternatives. This has ultimately increased the demand for advanced energy storage materials, with new research breakthroughs being announced swiftly. The recent progress in developing batteries using novel materials is considered a crucial aspect of the renewable energy development program.
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Classic Materials Used in Batteries for Energy Storage
Lithium-ion batteries are undoubtedly the most successfully commercialized energy storage batteries found in electronic gadgets, electric vehicles, and integrated devices.
As per the article published in Materials Today, Lithium-ion batteries consist of an intercalation cathode network. An intercalation cathode serves as a solid host structure that can store guest ions, allowing for their reversible insertion and removal. In the case of a Li-ion battery, Li+ is the guest ion, and in the last decade, the host network consisted of materials such as metal chalcogenides, transition metal oxides, and poly-anion compounds.
The layered structure represents the earliest style of intercalation compounds used as cathode materials in Li-ion batteries. Metal chalcogenides, like TiS3 and NbSe3, were explored in the past as potential cathode materials for intercalation. Among various chalcogenides, LiTiS2 (LTS) gained significant attention due to its high gravimetric energy density.
The article states that carbon anodes played a pivotal role in making Li-ion batteries commercially viable over three decades ago. The cost-effectiveness, rapid availability, moderate energy density, and superior longevity as compared to other anode materials made Carbon an obvious choice. Additionally, Lithium titanium oxide (LTO) was also effectively introduced to the market owing to its excellent thermal stability, relatively high volumetric capacity, and extended cycle life.
Materials for the Development of Modern Lead Carbon Batteries
Lead carbon batteries (LCBs) are a common subtype of lead-acid batteries (LABs). Pb negative electrode and PbO2 positive electrode make up a lead-acid battery. According to a recent article in Electrochemical Energy Reviews, Activated Carbon (AC) can significantly boost the charging capability of a lead (Pb) negative electrode.
When a parallel connection setup of Pb combined with AC is modified into an internal parallel connection, and AC particles are interconnected within the negative active material (NAM), the traditional lead-acid battery (LAB) is elevated into an advanced LAB with a carbon-reinforced dual-purpose lead-carbon composite negative electrode. These lead-carbon electrodes exhibit improved power performance and extended cycle life, especially during partial state of charge (PSoC) operation, and thus, batteries featuring these lead-carbon electrodes are commonly referred to as LCBs.
The key elements in LCBs are the active materials, with much of the research focused on creating robust positive active materials (PAMs) and negative active materials (NAMs). Additives play a crucial role in the advancement of LABs. In the case of carbon additives, high-density carbon materials are preferred for easy integration into the NAM. Enhancing PAM additives is challenging because PbO2 is highly oxidative and tends to oxidize carbon additives. As a result, researchers are working on various inorganic additives and highly crystalline carbon materials that are less susceptible to oxidation.
Importance of Caffeine in Lithium Batteries as Next Generation Energy Storage Material
Organic compounds are now being considered a valuable asset for the next generation of rechargeable battery energy storage materials. These compounds have naturally occurring redox centers, making them a viable choice for sustainable energy storage.
In recent research in Energy Storage Materials, conductive polymers and organosulfur compounds are outlined as useful energy storage materials. Caffeine, derived from the xanthine alkaloid and known as the most commonly consumed psychotropic substance, shows potential for involvement in lithium-coupled electron transfer through a redox process, making it a candidate energy storage material.
Researchers examined the use of caffeine in lithium-ion battery (LIB) cathodes, investigating the mechanism of energy storage during electrochemical reactions. By using galvanostatic charge-discharge tests, the researchers confirmed caffeine's redox reactions are reversible. It demonstrated performance exceeding 200 mAh g-1 capacity, even after 100 cycles in a voltage range from 1.5 to 4.3 V. Infrared (IR) characterization validated the energy storage mechanism. However, there is a dire need to optimize caffeine and its derivatives, especially to address voltage fluctuations and minimize high redox polarization, to establish them as effective energy storage materials for batteries.
Transition Metal Chalcogenides: The Future of Energy Storage
A research team recently published an article in Nanoscale Advances that focuses on the importance of transition metal chalcogenides as energy storage materials. The transition-metal chalcogenide material, especially its nanoscale structures, is used in the development of modern and highly efficient lithium batteries, sodium batteries, and optimized superconductors.
Transition-metal chalcogenide nanocrystals and thin films contain more electroactive sites for redox reactions and possess a flexible structure with diverse electronic properties. These characteristics make them highly appealing and more practical options as novel electrode materials for energy storage devices when compared to conventional materials.
Importance of Anti-perovskite Materials for Energy Storage Applications
Anti-perovskites, denoted as X3BA, which are essentially electrically inverted versions of perovskites ABX3, have garnered significant interest due to their impressive performance across various fields. They have particularly excelled in the realm of energy storage batteries.
As per the research published in InfoMat by a Chinese research team, Li/Na-rich anti-perovskite (LiRAP/NaRAP) solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) are known for their notable attributes, including high ionic conductivity and robust chemical/electrochemical stability when paired with Li-metal anodes. These characteristics highlight their significant potential for use in various applications, such as non-aqueous liquid electrolyte-based Li metal batteries (LMBs) or all-solid-state electrolyte-based LMBs.
Anti-perovskites have been explored in diverse roles, serving as artificial solid electrolyte interphases to safeguard Li-metal anodes, as thin-film SSEs for compact batteries, and as low-melting-temperature solid electrolytes that enable melt-infiltration for the production of all-solid-state lithium batteries. Transition metal-doped LiRAPs, when used as cathodes, have exhibited substantial discharge capacity and strong rate performance in Li-ion batteries (LIBs). Material scientists all over the world are further enhancing the performance of anti-perovskites to optimize their energy storage performance.
Many materials are now being processed to function as energy storage materials. 2D MXenes are a highly researched material in this regard. Over the next five to ten years, we can expect improvements in energy density, quicker charging, and increased sustainability, which will contribute to a more sustainable and efficient energy storage environment.
Emerging System-on-a-Chip Trends to Watch Out For
References and Further Reading
Nitta, N. et. al. (2015). Li-ion battery materials: present and future. Materials today, 18(5), 252-264. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2014.10.040
Yin, J. et al. (2022). Lead-Carbon Batteries toward Future Energy Storage: From Mechanism and Materials to Applications. Electrochem. Energy Rev. 5, 2. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41918-022-00134-w
Lee, W. et. al. (2023). Caffeine as an energy storage material for next-generation lithium batteries. Energy Storage Materials, 56, 13-24. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ensm.2023.01.003
Palchoudhury, S. et. al. (2023). Transition metal chalcogenides for next-generation energy storage. Nanoscale Advances, 5(10), 2724-2742. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1039/D2NA00944G
Deng, Z. et. al. (2022). Anti‐perovskite materials for energy storage batteries. InfoMat, 4(2), e12252. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/inf2.12252
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