A three-minute fast charge rate with more than 10,000-lifetime cycles has been achieved by a lab-scale coin-cell battery prototype. The result was released in Nature journal. The prototype was developed by scientists working in Xin Li's lab at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Associate Professor of Materials Science (SEAS).
Fast Charging Coin Cell Battery Prototype for EVs
An exclusive technological license has been given by Harvard's Office of Technology Development to the startup Adden Energy, Inc. recently. According to Businesswire, the license and the venture funding that closed a seed round with $5.15 million will enable the startup to scale Harvard's laboratory prototype toward commercial deployment of a solid-state lithium-metal battery. The battery could provide dependable and quick charging for future EVs, which could help them enter the mass market.
In the next three to five years, the business wants to build the battery up to a palm-sized pouch cell and eventually toward a full-scale vehicle battery.
"If you want to electrify vehicles, a solid-state battery is the way to go," said Xin Li, PhD, Associate Professor of Materials Science at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).
The scientific advisor continued by saying that they sought to commercialize the invention since they believed it to be distinct from existing solid-state batteries.
In comparison to the current standard of 2,000 to 3,000 charging cycles for even the best in class, he claimed that in the lab, batteries could be recharged 5,000 to 10,000 times. They see no fundamental barrier to expanding their battery technology, which has the potential to revolutionize the game.
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Fast Charging EV Battery
William Fitzhugh, the CEO of Adden Energy, estimates that transportation was responsible for 29% of the nation's carbon dioxide emissions in 2019. He said the total electrification of the fleet of cars is one of the most important things we can do to fight climate change.
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However, batteries need to be flexible enough to meet a variety of customer needs if electric vehicles are to be generally embraced. For instance, overnight charging at home is impossible for 37% of Americans who don't have garages. EVs must recharge at a rate that is comparable to that of internal combustion vehicles, or roughly in the time a vehicle would spend at the gas station, to electrify this market sector.
Other significant benefits could be provided by the technology created at Harvard, which includes fundamental advancements in the design of solid-state batteries and techniques for producing electrolytes.
In other solid-state systems, lithium-metal anodes typically form dendrites. According to The Harvard Gazette, by using cutting-edge structural and material designs, we stop dendrite growth before it can cause damage The device can maintain its high performance over its lifetime as a result. The recent study demonstrates that this feature can also be maintained at scale-up.
Li added that if we are to move toward a clean energy future, electric vehicles cannot stay a luxury trend. Everyone must have access to the technologies. A crucial component of that is extending the battery life, which is what we're doing in this case.
The world's greatest challenge, according to Adden Energy founder and Primavera Capital founder Fred Hu, is climate change. Accelerating the switch to sustainable energy and zero-emission transportation is more crucial than ever.
The goal of Adden Energy is to create cutting-edge battery technology that will facilitate the widespread use of electric vehicles and promote a greener, more sustainable global economy.
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