Fluoride ion battery-a potential contender for the next generation of batteries
Table of Contents
The development of fluoride ion battery is receiving increasing attention as a potential contender for next-generation batteries. Institutions such as Toyota and Honda in Japan, Helmholtz-Ulm Research Institute in Germany, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and some universities in China have initiated related research.
The research and development of fluoride ion battery is still at an extremely early stage, and many problems still need to be overcome to enter the application. However, fluoride ion battery has great potential and may replace lithium ion battery as the mainstream battery in the future, especially room temperature all-solid-state fluoride ion battery, which may replace lithium ion battery in lithium battery industry once the technology is mature.
Four advantages of fluoride ion battery
Among the many directions of next-generation batteries, fluoride ion battery has attracted much attention due to a series of research breakthroughs in recent years. Its working principle is similar to that of lithium-ion battery which is widely used nowadays, that is, fluoride ion is used to store energy by shuttling between positive and negative electrodes. Experts believe that fluoride ion battery has significant advantages over lithium ion battery in four aspects: energy density, safety, raw material supply and cost.
The pursuit of higher energy density is an important goal in the research and development of rechargeable batteries, because it means more power storage capacity. Information shows that the theoretical energy density of all-solid-state fluoride ion battery can be close to 5,000 watt-hours per liter, which is eight times the theoretical limit of lithium-ion battery.
Professor of University of Science and Technology of China introduced that fluoride ion battery uses copper fluoride, calcium fluoride and other compounds as electrode materials, and its specific mass of electrode active material can provide several times the amount of charge than lithium ion battery, so the energy density is far more than lithium ion battery.
In terms of safety, lithium dendrite growth is one of the main reasons affecting the safety of lithium-ion batteries, while fluorine ions are extremely difficult to be oxidized into fluorine monomers, which can avoid similar problems as lithium dendrite growth. In terms of raw materials, the crustal abundance of fluorine is much higher than that of lithium, and the current global annual production of fluorine is about two orders of magnitude higher than that of lithium. In addition, mining lithium requires large amounts of water, compared to the much lower environmental impact of fluorine mining.
In terms of cost, information shows that the raw material cobalt commonly used in lithium batteries is expensive, while fluoride ion battery in addition to silver, other anode and cathode materials cost less, theoretically fluoride ion battery cost per watt hour is only 20% to 25% of lithium ion battery.
Three routes of fluoride ion battery development
As early as 1970s, scientists have started to study fluoride ion battery, but there has been no substantial progress. 2011, German scientists took the lead in developing the all-solid fluoride ion battery using barium lanthanum fluoride as the electrolyte, fluoride ion battery research and development only gained more attention.
At present, the main technical routes of fluoride ion battery development include room temperature liquid fluoride ion battery, high temperature all-solid fluoride ion battery and room temperature all-solid fluoride ion battery. Among them, room-temperature liquid fluoride ion battery uses flammable and fluorine-containing organic solution as electrolyte, which has safety and environmental hazards; while high-temperature all-solid fluoride ion battery needs to operate at high temperature and may only be applied in energy storage or other specific scenarios.
Room temperature all-solid-state fluoride ion battery is considered to be the most valuable route among the three technology routes. In theory, room-temperature all-solid-state fluoride ion battery can be used in all application scenarios of current lithium-ion batteries, and is likely to fully replace lithium-ion batteries once the technology is mature.
Japan attaches great importance to fluoride ion battery R&D and has made a series of important progresses in recent years.In December 2018, Honda Research Institute of Japan, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech and other institutions collaborated to publish a paper in the American journal Science, saying that the team prepared for the first time a fluoride ion battery with a liquid electrolyte that can be reversibly charged and discharged at room temperature. ion battery at room temperature.
In 2020, Kyoto University and Toyota announced the success of a prototype all-solid-state fluoride ion battery, and Japanese media reported at the time that the fluoride ion battery could provide a longer range than a lithium-ion battery at the same size or weight, and that an electric vehicle range of 1,000 kilometers on a single charge would be within reach of the future.
The group of Prof. Ma Cheng at the University of Science and Technology of China is engaged in the research of room temperature all-solid-state fluoride ion battery. in November 2021, the group published a paper in the German journal “Smole” announcing the design and synthesis of a new fluoride ion solid-state electrolyte, which achieves stable long cycle of all-solid-state fluoride ion battery at room temperature for the first time in the international arena. at 25 degrees Celsius After 4581 hours of continuous charging and discharging at 25 degrees Celsius, no significant battery capacity degradation occurred. Previously, the number of charge/discharge cycles of room temperature all-solid-state fluoride ion battery reported in the literature did not exceed 20, which was generally considered as an unattainable technical route.
Prospects and challenges of fluoride ion battery development
To make electric cars last more than 1000 km on a single charge, lithium-ion batteries are also possible, but if you want to make large trucks, ships, airplanes and other high-powered vehicles reach a satisfactory range through batteries, you need to find energy storage technology with much higher energy density than lithium-ion batteries, and fluoride ion battery is a promising direction for this kind of technology.
The development of fluoride ion battery is still at an extremely early stage. Researchers are still searching for suitable material systems, and systems with practical and commercial values have not yet appeared. fluoride ion battery still faces many challenges in the basic research stage, including researchers have not yet found cathode and anode materials with sufficient excellent cycle performance, and electrolytes with both commercial value and excellent performance.
In order to make fluoride ion battery technology show its application value as soon as possible, it is still necessary to increase the investment in basic research and solve a series of problems related to basic research, such as electrode materials and electrolyte materials.
Fluoride ion battery-a potential contender for the next generation of batteries
The development of fluoride ion battery is receiving increasing attention as a potential contender for next-generation batteries. Institutions such as Toyota and Honda in Japan, Helmholtz-Ulm Research Institute in Germany, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and some universities in China have initiated related research.
The research and development of fluoride ion battery is still at an extremely early stage, and many problems still need to be overcome to enter the application. However, fluoride ion battery has great potential and may replace lithium ion battery as the mainstream battery in the future, especially room temperature all-solid-state fluoride ion battery, which may replace lithium ion battery in lithium battery industry once the technology is mature.
Four advantages of fluoride ion battery
Among the many directions of next-generation batteries, fluoride ion battery has attracted much attention due to a series of research breakthroughs in recent years. Its working principle is similar to that of lithium-ion battery which is widely used nowadays, that is, fluoride ion is used to store energy by shuttling between positive and negative electrodes. Experts believe that fluoride ion battery has significant advantages over lithium ion battery in four aspects: energy density, safety, raw material supply and cost.
The pursuit of higher energy density is an important goal in the research and development of rechargeable batteries, because it means more power storage capacity. Information shows that the theoretical energy density of all-solid-state fluoride ion battery can be close to 5,000 watt-hours per liter, which is eight times the theoretical limit of lithium-ion battery.
Professor of University of Science and Technology of China introduced that fluoride ion battery uses copper fluoride, calcium fluoride and other compounds as electrode materials, and its specific mass of electrode active material can provide several times the amount of charge than lithium ion battery, so the energy density is far more than lithium ion battery.
In terms of safety, lithium dendrite growth is one of the main reasons affecting the safety of lithium-ion batteries, while fluorine ions are extremely difficult to be oxidized into fluorine monomers, which can avoid similar problems as lithium dendrite growth. In terms of raw materials, the crustal abundance of fluorine is much higher than that of lithium, and the current global annual production of fluorine is about two orders of magnitude higher than that of lithium. In addition, mining lithium requires large amounts of water, compared to the much lower environmental impact of fluorine mining.
In terms of cost, information shows that the raw material cobalt commonly used in lithium batteries is expensive, while fluoride ion battery in addition to silver, other anode and cathode materials cost less, theoretically fluoride ion battery cost per watt hour is only 20% to 25% of lithium ion battery.
Three routes of fluoride ion battery development
As early as 1970s, scientists have started to study fluoride ion battery, but there has been no substantial progress. 2011, German scientists took the lead in developing the all-solid fluoride ion battery using barium lanthanum fluoride as the electrolyte, fluoride ion battery research and development only gained more attention.
At present, the main technical routes of fluoride ion battery development include room temperature liquid fluoride ion battery, high temperature all-solid fluoride ion battery and room temperature all-solid fluoride ion battery. Among them, room-temperature liquid fluoride ion battery uses flammable and fluorine-containing organic solution as electrolyte, which has safety and environmental hazards; while high-temperature all-solid fluoride ion battery needs to operate at high temperature and may only be applied in energy storage or other specific scenarios.
Room temperature all-solid-state fluoride ion battery is considered to be the most valuable route among the three technology routes. In theory, room-temperature all-solid-state fluoride ion battery can be used in all application scenarios of current lithium-ion batteries, and is likely to fully replace lithium-ion batteries once the technology is mature.
Japan attaches great importance to fluoride ion battery R&D and has made a series of important progresses in recent years.In December 2018, Honda Research Institute of Japan, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech and other institutions collaborated to publish a paper in the American journal Science, saying that the team prepared for the first time a fluoride ion battery with a liquid electrolyte that can be reversibly charged and discharged at room temperature. ion battery at room temperature.
In 2020, Kyoto University and Toyota announced the success of a prototype all-solid-state fluoride ion battery, and Japanese media reported at the time that the fluoride ion battery could provide a longer range than a lithium-ion battery at the same size or weight, and that an electric vehicle range of 1,000 kilometers on a single charge would be within reach of the future.
The group of Prof. Ma Cheng at the University of Science and Technology of China is engaged in the research of room temperature all-solid-state fluoride ion battery. in November 2021, the group published a paper in the German journal “Smole” announcing the design and synthesis of a new fluoride ion solid-state electrolyte, which achieves stable long cycle of all-solid-state fluoride ion battery at room temperature for the first time in the international arena. at 25 degrees Celsius After 4581 hours of continuous charging and discharging at 25 degrees Celsius, no significant battery capacity degradation occurred. Previously, the number of charge/discharge cycles of room temperature all-solid-state fluoride ion battery reported in the literature did not exceed 20, which was generally considered as an unattainable technical route.
Prospects and challenges of fluoride ion battery development
To make electric cars last more than 1000 km on a single charge, lithium-ion batteries are also possible, but if you want to make large trucks, ships, airplanes and other high-powered vehicles reach a satisfactory range through batteries, you need to find energy storage technology with much higher energy density than lithium-ion batteries, and fluoride ion battery is a promising direction for this kind of technology.
The development of fluoride ion battery is still at an extremely early stage. Researchers are still searching for suitable material systems, and systems with practical and commercial values have not yet appeared. fluoride ion battery still faces many challenges in the basic research stage, including researchers have not yet found cathode and anode materials with sufficient excellent cycle performance, and electrolytes with both commercial value and excellent performance.
In order to make fluoride ion battery technology show its application value as soon as possible, it is still necessary to increase the investment in basic research and solve a series of problems related to basic research, such as electrode materials and electrolyte materials.