A breakthrough has been made in lithium-ion battery technology

The technology of cathodes with a double gradient has been developed, which can significantly increase the efficiency of lithium-ion batteries and reduce their cost.

Scientists from the Argonne National Laboratory boasted about the development. This innovation could accelerate the use of electric vehicles and improve energy storage systems.

The innovation is a further development of the laboratory's achievements in 2012, when a cathode with a composition gradient was created, which allowed for higher energy density and longer battery life.

The dual-gradient design improves on previous designs by adding structural gradients to the gradient composition. This offers significant advantages: the disordered surface of the cathode contributes to its stability and prevents the appearance of cracks, which is a common problem when working with high voltages. The orderly core of the cathode, in turn, helps to efficiently transfer lithium ions, which is very important for fast charging and discharging of batteries.

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Various tests were conducted to verify the performance of this design, the results of which showed high efficiency. The cathode particles have demonstrated exceptional chemical and structural stability at high voltage.

In addition, the new technology significantly reduces the use of cobalt, which is an expensive and rare material. The main part of cobalt was placed on the surface of the cathode particles, which made it possible to reduce its total content from 10-20% to 2%. In the future, researchers plan to reduce its content to 1%.

Argonne National Laboratory has patented this technology and its manufacturing process, and it is now awaiting licensing in the field of battery production.