CATL has analyzed lithium metal batteries (LMB) to increase their energy density without compromising their service life.

The chemistry of electric car batteries is complex, with many factors coming into play that must be balanced to achieve batteries that offer both performance and durability. Lithium metal batteries (LMB) are seen by many as the next major breakthrough in this industry, but they have a significant problem related to the balance between these two factors.

Now CATL, the world’s largest battery manufacturer, has announced a new development, published in Nature Nanotechnology, to solve this problem, based on quantitative mapping of the batteries.

The problem with LMB batteries

According to CATL, this breakthrough makes it possible to “develop LMBs with high energy density and long service life, solving a long-standing challenge in this field. The optimized prototype has achieved a service life of 483 cycles and can be incorporated into cutting-edge designs to achieve an energy density of over 500 Wh/kg.”

LMBs stand out for their high energy density, which makes them the next-generation battery system for applications such as electric vehicles. However, the problem with them is that it is difficult to find a balance between this density and their service life.

To improve the former, something that has been attempted “by optimizing solvation structures and solid-electrolyte interfaces,” the trade-off is that their service life is compromised, making them commercially unviable. It is precisely this problem that the solution created by CATL addresses.

It is somewhat technical, which the company explains as follows: “A set of analytical techniques was developed and refined to track the evolution of active lithium and each electrolyte component throughout the battery’s life cycle. This approach transformed a ‘black box’ into a ‘white box’, revealing the critical pathways of depletion that cause cell failure.”

What was discovered is that, contrary to what was believed, the causes of cell failure are not those that were considered (solvent degradation, dead lithium accumulation, or alteration of the solvation environment), but rather the continuous consumption of the LiFSI electrolyte salt, which reaches 71% at the end of its useful life. The conclusion is that the focus must be placed on the durability of the electrolyte as a critical factor for continued battery performance.

Higher energy density and longer life cycle

But CATL not only identified the problem, it also came up with the solution. The brand has optimized the electrolyte formulation by introducing a lower molecular weight diluent. Thus, without increasing the mass of the electrolyte, its viscosity has been reduced and its conductivity improved, doubling its service life to 483 cycles and making it compatible with an energy density greater than 500 Wh/kg.

To put this into perspective, other avenues are being explored within the industry, the main one being solid-state batteries. A recent example is the batteries developed by Stellantis and Factorial, which have presented a model with an energy density of 375 Wh/kg, so this new format would exceed it by 33%.

Ouyang Chuying, co-president of Research and Development at CATL and deputy executive director of the 21C Laboratory, explains: “We saw a valuable opportunity to connect academic research with its practical application in commercial battery cells. Our findings underscore that LiFSI salt consumption and, above all, total salt concentration, are a determining factor in battery longevity.”

 

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1. History of electric vehicle.
2. Battery electric vehicle.
3. History of the lithium ion battery.
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5. New electric vehicle battery materials.
6. Other storage technologies of electric vehicle batteries.
7. Battery components.
8. Battery Management System-BMS.
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10. Battery degradation loss of autonomy.
11. What is covered and not covered by the electric vehicle battery warranty.
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15. Real cases of electric vehicle fire.
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22. Plug-in electric hybrids, a solution or an obstacle  to electrify the vehicle fleet?.
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24. Cybersecurity of charging points.
25. The theft of copper in electric vehicle chargers.
26. Incidents at electric car charging points and their possible solutions.
27. Batery swapping.
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29. Electric vehicle, artificial intelligence, and electricity demand.
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31. The case of Huaneng: The world’s first electrified and autonomous mining fleet.
32. Consequences on the vehicle fleet of an electric vehicle brand going bankruptcy.
33. E-fuels and synthetic fuels are not an alternative to decarbonize the vehicle fleet.
34. How to avoid premature obsolescence of the fleet’s electric vehicles.
35. Polluting emissions from brakes.
36. Mileage manipulation to extinguish warranty early on electric vehicles.
37. The importance of the electricity tariff in reducing electric vehicle costs.
38. Electric vehicles cause more motion sickness than gasoline vehicles.

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