H. Rathnayake, P. Butreddy
University of North Carolina Greensboro,
United States
Keywords: lithium nano-frameworks, solid-state electrolyte, solid-state battery, bio-based energy storage, Lithium, ionic conduction
Summary:
One of the most significant technical challenges in conventional lithium-ion battery is the thermal instability due to their highly flammable liquid electrolytes. Additionally, current energy storage technologies suffer from low energy density, heaviness, high-cost, and materials scarcity. Thus, lightweight, long lasting, quick charging, eco-friendly, and low-cost battery technology is crucial for the expansion of power electronics and electric vehicle market, which fall short with conventional batteries. Aiming at solving these key shortcomings in current energy storage technologies, this innovation envisions to produce a stable, low-cost, and eco-friendly solid-state battery technology, which holds more energy (x2.5) in the same volume and charges in a fraction of the time compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries and the state-of-the-art (SOA) solid-state batteries. Our technology aims at unlocking the superior performance of bio-based batteries with high current density, exceeding energy density 300 Wh/kg and 10-15 years of lifetime, avoiding dendrite formation and degradation. Towards this mission, this innovation has investigated electrochemical properties and battery chemistry for lithium-ion conduction in a novel bio-based lithium nano-framework for creating a bio-based solid-state electrolyte, which possesses two-fold higher in ionic conductivity compared to current SOA liquid electrolytes. The expected outcome is to have a commercially viable eco-friendly solid-state battery technology that could replace current conventional liquid electrolyte-based batteries, and ceramic and polymer-based solid-state batteries.