An anode has been created that significantly speeds up the charging of lithium-ion batteries

Despite all the attempts to find a worthy replacement for lithium-ion batteries, they still reign supreme in the energy storage market. Therefore, in addition to looking for alternatives, scientists are also engaged in improving the existing battery.

So a research team from the Netherlands has proposed and has already tested a new battery design that promises significantly faster charging speeds. And all this thanks to the new architecture of the anode made of niobium-tungsten oxide.

How the new anode was created

Having thoroughly studied the principle of moving lithium between the electrodes (in the battery), the scientific group University of Twente proposed a new design of the anode, in the architecture of which there are special nanochannels. Due to them, the flow of lithium ions passes much faster and with less delays.

In order to obtain such a new anode, it was decided to abandon the classical graphite and replace it with a promising material - tungsten niobium oxide (NbWO).

This material was first used in batteries back in 2018, when engineers at Cambridge University they also calculated and designed a battery that showed very decent results in terms of speed charge / discharge.

University engineers took a slightly different path, they decided to test the material when its particles will be reduced to nanoscale.

For this, it was decided to ignite NbWO and thereby obtain nanoparticles ranging in size from 10 to 100 nanometers.

So the peculiarity of these microparticles was that, as it turned out, they were able to pass lithium ions at their boundaries almost without hindrance.

New anode tests and where it can be applied

Once the new anode was received, the team began active testing of the new battery. So it turned out that if the nanoparticles in the anode do not exceed 100 nanometers in size, then the rate of lithiation of tungsten niobium oxide increases significantly.

Despite such encouraging tests, engineers are in no hurry to make loud statements. And all because the new battery has a significant drawback: its dimensions are much larger than lithium-ion counterparts with a graphite anode.

It is for this reason that the field of application of new batteries is not so wide. For example, in electric vehicles, such batteries cannot be used. Since in this case the battery simply will not fit in the car.

However, fast charging / discharging new batteries allows them to be used, for example, in systems accumulation in the production of so-called green energy (solar panels, wind generators and etc.). In addition, the new batteries can be used in stationary power plants.

Work on the modernization of existing samples continues, and scientists hope that they will be able to optimize the parameters of the new battery. And thus increase its attractiveness for commercial use.

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