To create safe and affordable batteries for automotive applications, battery materials and chemistries must be optimized. The Battery Chemistries for Automotive Applications Symposium, part of this year’s Advanced Automotive Battery Conference will bring together leading material R&D professionals from industry, government and academia to discuss the current challenges of Li-ion batteries. Case studies highlighting advancements in both electrode and electrolyte chemistry will be shared. In addition to improvements in Li-ion chemistries, the Chemistry Symposium will also discuss the economic value of advanced lithium and non-lithium technologies.
Final Agenda
Monday, June 4
12:30 pm Symposia Registration (Ballroom Foyer)
1:30 Chairperson’s Opening Remarks
Martin Winter, PhD, Chair, Applied Material Science for Energy Conversion and Storage, MEET Battery, Research Center, Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Muenster
1:35 Present Status and Future Requirements for Energy Storage for Vehicle Applications
Venkat Srinivasan, PhD, Director, Center for Collaborative Energy Storage Science, Argonne National Laboratory
This talk will summarize the state-of-the-art of battery technology when compared to the needs for vehicle applications. Using techno-economic modeling efforts at ANL, we will summarize the prospects of Li-ion, Li-metal (including Li-air and Li-S), and Mg-ion based systems compared to the requirements. We will also summarize the key targets for materials for these future chemistries, derived from continuum models, with an eye on requirements for enabling Li metal.
1:55 Improving Li-Ion Energy and Cycle Life at the Negative Electrode
Mark Obrovac, PhD, Professor, Chemistry and Physics, Dalhousie University
There are a number of opportunities to increase cell energy and cell cycle life by improvements at the negative electrode. Using simple materials and methods, Si alloys can be obtained having greatly improved handling properties and cycling performance. It will also be shown that improvements to cell cycle life can be made from considering inactive cell components interactions with electrolytes and additives.
2:15 Exploring Safety and Performance Concerns Associated with Si-containing Lithium-ion Cells
Daniel Abraham, Ph.D., Materials Scientist, CSE, Argonne National Laboratory
The excessive volume changes and continual SEI growth during electrochemical cycling have limited the use of silicon-based anodes in lithium-ion cells. In this presentation we will discuss the performance of cells, in which Si-Gr electrodes are paired with layered transition metal oxides, during calendar and cycle life aging. We will also highlight the gassing (hydrogen generation) associated with the processing of Si-based electrodes from aqueous slurries, and present approaches for its mitigation.
2:35 Pure-Silicon Lithium-Ion Battery System for Reducing Barriers to EV Adoption
Benjamin Park, PhD, Founder and CTO, Enevate Corporation
Enevate's anode, electrolyte, and cell technology deliver exceptional performance today. The silicon anode can be an alternative to lithium metal for solid state electrolytes. The technology offers extreme fast charge with high energy density, wide temperature operation, low cost, and safety. These characteristics will catalyze electrification of vehicle fleets.
2:55 Refreshment Break (Garden Patio)
3:15 Development of Advanced Materials for xEV Cells
Chengdu Liang, PhD, Dean, Research Institute, CATL
With the growing of xEV market, the demand for high energy battery chemistry with reliable electrochemical properties becomes the major topic of battery research. In this presentation, we will share the latest development of cathode, anode, and electrolyte from the viewpoint of xEV applications. The topic will focus on high nickel cathode and silicon anode materials.
3:35 High Capacity Cathodes Invoking Oxygen Redox
Peter Bruce, PhD, Faraday Challenge Institute
The search for Li-ion battery cathodes that exceed the limits of Ni rich NCM presents a significant challenge. One possible route is to store charge on the oxygen as well as the transition metal of lithium transition metal oxide cathodes. To harness the opportunities such material offer, it is necessary to understand the nature of O-redox processes and the factors that control them. O-redox in 3d transition metal oxides will be discussed, leading to a new high capacity manganese based cathode that utilizes the full capacity of the Mn as well as charge storage on oxygen.
3:55 Challenges and Opportunities for Implementing High-Nickel Cathode Materials in High-Performance Li-ion Cells
Suresh Sriramulu, PhD, CTO, CAMX Power
High-nickel cathode materials are increasingly being considered in Li-ion cells for automotive batteries. This presentation will review the challenges of implementing high-nickel cathode materials, especially in laminate pouch cells. We will discuss how lithium impurities (LiOH and Li2CO3), in conjunction with surface chemistry of high-nickel cathode materials, promote electrode slurry gelling and gas generation in the cell during elevated temperature storage and cycling. We will show why techniques typically used for measuring such impurities in low-nickel cathode materials are not suitable for high-nickel cathode materials and disclose methods for accurately characterizing such impurities.
4:15 Improvements to Disordered Rock-Salt Li-Excess Cathode Materials
Dee Strand, PhD, CSO, Chemistry, Wildcat Discovery Technologies
Cathode materials with higher energy density than layered oxide materials are required for future demands of vehicle electrification. Disordered rock-salt Li-excess structures, such as Li3NbO4, have been demonstrated to achieve capacities of greater than 300 mAh/g reversible capacities at elevated temperatures. The high capacity is believed to be due to reversible redox chemistry of the oxide anions. This new class of high energy cathode materials provides an opportunity for a step change increase in cell level energy density. However, improvements are still required in material conductivity and stability. In this presentation, we demonstrate material improvements which enable high specific capacity at room temperature and extended cycle life.
4:35 Q&A
5:00 Close of Day
Tuesday, June 5
8:30 am Morning Coffee (Garden Patio)
9:00 Chairperson’s Remarks
Dee Strand, PhD, CSO, Chemistry, Wildcat Discovery Technologies
9:05 Non-carbonate Electrolytes for High Voltage/High Ni Chemistries
Kang Xu, PhD, Senior Research Chemist & Project Lead, US Army Research Lab
Dialkyl carbonate ester have been used as main electrolyte solvent since the dawn of Li-ion batteries and remains dominant in today’s LIB market. However, such solvents are intrinsically unstable with the next generation cathode materials of either high voltage (>4.5 V) or high Ni content. In this work we attempted to replace resolve these problems with a new class of non-flammable non-carbonate solvents that don’t generate gas at high V.
9:25 The Battery500 Project - Assessing Critical Pathways to Next Generation High Energy Safe Lithium Batteries
Shirley Meng, PhD, Professor, Director, NanoEngineering & Energy Center, University of San Diego
Battery500’s aggressive goal is to develop next generation batteries that have almost double the specific energy found in the batteries that power today’s electric cars. The consortium team hopes to reach the goal by focusing on lithium-metal batteries, which use lithium instead of graphite for the battery’s negative electrode. A key focus of the consortium is to ensure the technological solutions it develops meet the needs of automotive and battery manufacturers. I will showcase a few significant innovations that can be potentially implemented by industry throughout the project.
9:45 Surface and Interfacial Challenges and Opportunities in Rechargeable Lithium Batteries
Xingcheng Xiao, PhD, Staff Researcher, Global R&D Center, General Motors Company
10:05 Grand Opening Coffee Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing (Ballroom)
11:00 Solvay’s Recent Developments on Electrolyte Ingredients for High Voltage Li-Ion Batteries
Dominick Cangiano, MBA, PhD, Technical Business Development Manager, SOLVAY
A leading target of the Li-Ion battery industry is to achieve high energy density at affordable cost without compromising on safety. Solvay has increased its efforts to propose innovative electrolyte ingredients to battery makers, enabling high voltage solutions. New results with fluorinated additives and Energain® on silicon graphite/lithium anodes will be presented.
11:20 Solid-State Lithium-Metal/Glass-Electrolyte Structures for Next Generation Batteries
Steve Visco, PhD, CEO & CTO, PolyPlus Battery Co.
Li-ion technology has profoundly changed the battery landscape since its commercial introduction in 1991. However, it is now a mature technology, and incremental improvements to the energy density of Li-ion batteries are becoming increasingly difficult to achieve. The replacement of the carbon anode by lithium metal would allow for a substantial increase in energy density, but this is hardly a trivial task. In this presentation, we describe the use of glass protected Li-metal electrodes to eliminate the formation and propagation of Li dendrites, leading to high cycle life and high energy density batteries.
11:40 Unlimit Energy
Qichao Hu, PhD, Founder & CEO, SolidEnergy Systems Corp.
SolidEnergy has introduced transformational energy storage solutions through its light semi-solid lithium metal batteries. The breakthrough technology incorporates a high concentration solvent-in-salt electrolyte capable of operating at room temperature as well as a protected lithium metal anode that is many times smaller and lighter than a graphite or silicon composite anode. Through these two innovative material platforms, SolidEnergy offers twice the energy density at an incredibly reduced weight when compared to conventional lithium-ion technology.
12:00 pm Cathode Design Considerations for Bulk Solid-State Batteries
Josh Buettner-Garrett, PhD, CTO, Solid Power Inc
Solid-state batteries are now emerging as the greatest threat to conventional Li-ion batteries. Most R&D activity to this point has focused on topics such as electrolyte conductivity and enablement of Li metal anodes, but solid-state composite cathodes that provide high energy density and long cycle life are also critical. This talk will cover the material, layer design, and processing requirements for a high-performance cathode as well as provide a status update for Solid Power’s solid-state cells.
12:20 Q&A
12:40 Networking Lunch (Garden Patio)
1:35 Dessert Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing (Ballroom)
2:35 Chairperson’s Remarks
Andreas Hintennach, PhD, Professor, Research HV Battery Systems, Daimler AG
2:40 Post and Beyond Lithium-Ion Materials and Cells for Electrochemical Energy Storage
Andreas Hintennach, PhD, Professor, Research HV Battery Systems, Daimler AG
Novel and sustainable electroactive materials can help to decrease the ecological impact of novel battery concepts in the near future. While on the one hand high energy density is required, the aspects of safety, lifetime get more important and often mean a challenge. All these requirements are met by very different approaches with different characteristics: all solid-state cells, high-energy materials, lithium-sulfur and even different systems e. g. Na- or Mg-Ion.
3:00 Novel Chemistry for Automotive Application: Lithium-Selenium and Selenium-Sulfur Couple
Gui-Liang Xu, PhD, Assistant Chemist, Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory
In this talk, we will report on a novel Sulfur doped Selenium system coupled with a novel electrolyte that overcomes both the conductivity issue of sulfur and the shuttle effect caused by polysulfide ions. We will also disclose a new close system based on stabilizing crystalline Lithium superoxide that offers a real opportunity of achieving at least 500wh/kg.
3:20 Conversion-Type Active Materials & Processes for Safer, Higher Energy Density Batteries
Gleb Yushin, PhD, Professor, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Energy density and cost of Li-ion batteries (LIBs) based on conventional intercalation compounds are closely approaching their limits. The reliance of conventional cathodes on the use of toxic metals additionally endangers health and safety of miners in developing countries. Conversion-type active materials offer an opportunity to double energy stored in LIBs, reduce their cost by the same factor, and improve cell safety. These materials may be produced from safer, cheaper and globally available resources and contribute to accelerated adoption of electric transportation.
3:40 Q&A
4:00 Networking Reception in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing (Ballroom)
5:00 Close of Symposium