Photo: Adden Energy
Solid state batteries are a promising technology, although technical problems must be solved before they can be manufactured at an industrial scale. A new type of solid-state battery pioneered by startup Adden Energy points to a leap in performance and reliability.
The startup uses an exclusive technology license from Harvard’s Office of Technology Development to develop solid-state battery systems for use in future electric vehicles. Based on lithium-metal technology, the battery can achieve charge rates as fast as three minutes with over 10,000 cycles in a lifetime. The coin-cell prototypes developed by Adden Energy for lab testing don’t look like much now. Still, Adden wants to scale the battery up to a palm-sized pouch cell and further to a full-scale EV battery.
“We set out to commercialize this technology because we do see our technology as unique compared to other solid-state batteries,” said Xin Li, Associate Professor of Materials Science at Harvard and scientific advisor to Adden Energy. “We have achieved in the lab 5,000 to 10,000 charge cycles in a battery’s lifetime, compared with 2,000 to 3,000 charging cycles for even the best in class now, and we don’t see any fundamental limit to scaling up our battery technology. That could be a game changer.”
The battery uses a new technology that prevents dendrite formation in the lithium-metal anodes. The innovative solid-state electrolyte is essential to this technology, allowing it to achieve an ultrahigh current density with no lithium dendrite penetration. The electrolyte features a “multilayer design, which has the structure of a less-stable electrolyte sandwiched between more-stable solid electrolytes.” The dendrite growth happens inside the less stable electrolyte layer, but any cracks formed are quickly filled by “dynamically generated decompositions that are also well constrained.”
According to a study published in Nature more than a year ago, the cycling performance of the lithium metal anode paired with a LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 cathode is very stable. The capacity retention after 20,000 cycles is above 82% at a 20C rate. The specific power is also impressive, at 110.6 kW/kg, with an energy density up to 631.1 Wh/kg. The results are well above other Li-Ion battery projects, and Adden Energy is confident it can have commercial samples in the next three-to-five years.
“We set out to commercialize this technology because we do see our technology as unique compared to other solid-state batteries,” said Xin Li, Associate Professor of Materials Science at Harvard and scientific advisor to Adden Energy. “We have achieved in the lab 5,000 to 10,000 charge cycles in a battery’s lifetime, compared with 2,000 to 3,000 charging cycles for even the best in class now, and we don’t see any fundamental limit to scaling up our battery technology. That could be a game changer.”
The battery uses a new technology that prevents dendrite formation in the lithium-metal anodes. The innovative solid-state electrolyte is essential to this technology, allowing it to achieve an ultrahigh current density with no lithium dendrite penetration. The electrolyte features a “multilayer design, which has the structure of a less-stable electrolyte sandwiched between more-stable solid electrolytes.” The dendrite growth happens inside the less stable electrolyte layer, but any cracks formed are quickly filled by “dynamically generated decompositions that are also well constrained.”
According to a study published in Nature more than a year ago, the cycling performance of the lithium metal anode paired with a LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 cathode is very stable. The capacity retention after 20,000 cycles is above 82% at a 20C rate. The specific power is also impressive, at 110.6 kW/kg, with an energy density up to 631.1 Wh/kg. The results are well above other Li-Ion battery projects, and Adden Energy is confident it can have commercial samples in the next three-to-five years.
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