The research status and development direction of dual ion battery
With the rapid development of electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries continue to appear in electric four-wheeled vehicles, two wheeler electric bike and electric tricycle, however, in the market under the high fever, the crisis has also quietly appeared, the electric vehicle range continues to increase, the energy density of the power battery, the cost of the requirements have gradually increased.
Existing lithium-ion battery energy density is already close to the theoretical limit, and lithium, cobalt and nickel and other raw material prices to lithium-ion battery cost puts a lot of pressure. In order to cope with these crises, the layout of new technologies and products is the only choice.
Under the joint efforts of academia and industry, many new technologies are eager to try; such as all-solid-state batteries, lithium-air batteries and so on. The dual ion battery has been developing rapidly in recent years, and its strength should not be underestimated. This article takes you to understand dual ion battery, as well as its research situation and development direction, etc.
Table of Contents
What is dual ion battery
Dual Ion Battery (DIB) has attracted much attention as a new type of cost-effective, high-voltage, environmentally friendly energy storage device. dual ion battery has anion and cation synergistic redox energy storage mechanism, which can obtain high power and energy density at the same time, and has the double advantage of safety and cost over lithium ion battery.
Compared with lithium-ion batteries, it has the double advantages of safety and cost, and has been recognized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) as one of the “Top 10 Emerging Technologies” in 2020.
The concept of dual ion battery was developed from dual carbon batteries (DCBs) or dual graphite batteries (DGBs) and originated from the study of graphite interlayer compounds (GICs). In dual ion battery system, there is not a single ion involved in the electrochemical reaction.
Correspondingly, in lithium ion battery, only one ion, Li+, is shuttled between the positive and anodes, and the anion in the lithium ion battery electrolyte is not involved in the reaction. In dual ion battery, not only the cations can be embedded, but also the anions in the electrolyte can be embedded, hence the name dual ion battery.
Material features of dual ion battery
Most of the early studies on dual ion batteries were based on the graphite-graphite battery system, where graphite is used as both the cathode and anode materials of the battery.
In terms of cathode materials, dual ion battery cathode generally adopts graphite-based carbon-based materials to realize battery charging and discharging through the process of anion insertion/de-embedding. Graphite as a good energy storage material, hard carbon, soft carbon as cheap and effective energy storage material has been used in lithium-ion batteries, sodium ion battery and other fields, industrialization in the forefront.
In terms of electrolyte, dual ion battery electrolyte, in addition to acting as an ion transport medium, is also a source of active ions in the charging and discharging process, and therefore has an important impact on electrochemical performance such as battery capacity, cycle life, energy density, etc.
The electrolyte concentration will affect the anion storage behavior, high concentration electrolyte can reduce the anion onset embedding potential but the kinetics is relatively slow, low concentration electrolyte is beneficial to the anion transport kinetics but the specific capacity is relatively low.
Therefore, researchers not only need to conduct a systematic study for the storage behavior of anions embedded in the electrolyte between the graphite cathode layers, but also need to consider the compatibility of the electrolyte with the cation embedded anode materials; Thus, an electrolyte system suitable for both anode and anode energy storage is constructed.
In terms of anode materials, dual ion battery commonly used anode materials mainly include carbon-based materials, transition metal oxides/sulfides, organic anode materials and alloyed anode materials. Especially, alloying anode, with the advantages of high specific capacity and moderate reaction point, has slowly come into people’s view and received attention from the industry.
Alloying anodes function through an electrochemical alloying reaction between the alloying element anode and the metal cations in the electrolyte. These alloyed anode materials tend to have excellent storage capacity for metal cations (e.g., AlLi) and excellent electrical conductivity (e.g., Al).
However, the drastic volume change of the alloyed anode during charging and discharging, and the poor multiplicity performance and cycling stability have seriously hindered their practical application, and a breakthrough is needed in both academia and industry.
Current status of dual ion battery research
China has also conducted a lot of research in the main areas of dual ion battery. For example, in dual ion battery anode research, represented by the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, for the first time put forward the cation alloying and anion insertion synergistic redox energy storage new mechanism, complete the new aluminum-graphite dual ion battery system construction, and simplify the structure of the battery, significantly improve the energy density, multiplier performance and safety;
In addition, the team from SIAS has been cooperating and exchanging ideas with Emma on dual ion battery and other products and technologies, and has entered the detailed design stage.
In the research of dual ion battery positive electrode, represented by Yan Xingbin’s group in Sun Yat-sen University, a systematic research has been carried out on the relationship between the microstructure of carbon-based positive electrode materials and the influence of electron/ion transport properties and the performance regulation law.
In terms of dual ion battery electrolyte research, Wang Hongyu’s group at the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), represented by Wang Hongyu, reported for the first time in 2016 a cyclobutanesulfone electrolyte system based on high antioxidant properties.
In terms of dual ion battery electrode/electrolyte interface stability enhancement, Cui Guanglei’s group at the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Process Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for the first time used lithium titanate as the graphite anode surface capping layer.
Industrialized application of dual ion battery
In the dual ion battery industrialization application, Japan as the earliest commercialization of dual ion battery country, the birth of a number of companies such as Power Japan Plus Company as a representative. In recent years, China has also begun the industrialization process of dual ion battery, and has entered the pilot R&D and mass production stage.
Shenzhen Advanced Technology Research Institute (SATRI) and its incubatee Shenzhen Zhongke Ruineng took the lead in carrying out the pilot research and development of dual ion battery and formed a perfect layout of intellectual property rights, and completed the pilot production line of dual ion battery battery cell and module.
We have developed a dual ion battery core with a single capacity of 20Ah and an energy density of 160Wh/kg, which has passed the test of a third organization, with a capacity retention rate of 86.3% for 8,000 cycles at a multiplier of 10C, and initially realized the demonstration of the application of a 60kWh dual ion battery energy storage system.
Development direction of dual ion battery
At this stage, dual ion battery both from the point of view of volume energy density, or weight energy density, there is still a big gap from the lithium-ion battery.
Mainly because dual ion battery on electrolyte demand is much higher than ordinary lithium-ion batteries, so the electrolyte in the battery weight accounted for a large proportion of the reduction in energy density caused by the electrolyte, while the electrolyte amount is too large also led to the dual ion battery in the current stage of the cost is significantly higher than lithium-ion batteries.
Meanwhile, the electrolyte, as the only source of active charge carriers in dual ion battery, plays a crucial role in battery performance. Therefore, choosing a good electrolyte to ensure sufficient ionic conductivity and excellent electrochemical stability is a major direction in the development of dual ion batteries.
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The research status and development direction of dual ion battery
With the rapid development of electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries continue to appear in electric four-wheeled vehicles, two wheeler electric bike and electric tricycle, however, in the market under the high fever, the crisis has also quietly appeared, the electric vehicle range continues to increase, the energy density of the power battery, the cost of the requirements have gradually increased.
Existing lithium-ion battery energy density is already close to the theoretical limit, and lithium, cobalt and nickel and other raw material prices to lithium-ion battery cost puts a lot of pressure. In order to cope with these crises, the layout of new technologies and products is the only choice.
Under the joint efforts of academia and industry, many new technologies are eager to try; such as all-solid-state batteries, lithium-air batteries and so on. The dual ion battery has been developing rapidly in recent years, and its strength should not be underestimated. This article takes you to understand dual ion battery, as well as its research situation and development direction, etc.
What is dual ion battery
Dual Ion Battery (DIB) has attracted much attention as a new type of cost-effective, high-voltage, environmentally friendly energy storage device. dual ion battery has anion and cation synergistic redox energy storage mechanism, which can obtain high power and energy density at the same time, and has the double advantage of safety and cost over lithium ion battery.
Compared with lithium-ion batteries, it has the double advantages of safety and cost, and has been recognized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) as one of the “Top 10 Emerging Technologies” in 2020.
The concept of dual ion battery was developed from dual carbon batteries (DCBs) or dual graphite batteries (DGBs) and originated from the study of graphite interlayer compounds (GICs). In dual ion battery system, there is not a single ion involved in the electrochemical reaction.
Correspondingly, in lithium ion battery, only one ion, Li+, is shuttled between the positive and anodes, and the anion in the lithium ion battery electrolyte is not involved in the reaction. In dual ion battery, not only the cations can be embedded, but also the anions in the electrolyte can be embedded, hence the name dual ion battery.
Material features of dual ion battery
Most of the early studies on dual ion batteries were based on the graphite-graphite battery system, where graphite is used as both the cathode and anode materials of the battery.
In terms of cathode materials, dual ion battery cathode generally adopts graphite-based carbon-based materials to realize battery charging and discharging through the process of anion insertion/de-embedding. Graphite as a good energy storage material, hard carbon, soft carbon as cheap and effective energy storage material has been used in lithium-ion batteries, sodium ion battery and other fields, industrialization in the forefront.
In terms of electrolyte, dual ion battery electrolyte, in addition to acting as an ion transport medium, is also a source of active ions in the charging and discharging process, and therefore has an important impact on electrochemical performance such as battery capacity, cycle life, energy density, etc.
The electrolyte concentration will affect the anion storage behavior, high concentration electrolyte can reduce the anion onset embedding potential but the kinetics is relatively slow, low concentration electrolyte is beneficial to the anion transport kinetics but the specific capacity is relatively low.
Therefore, researchers not only need to conduct a systematic study for the storage behavior of anions embedded in the electrolyte between the graphite cathode layers, but also need to consider the compatibility of the electrolyte with the cation embedded anode materials; Thus, an electrolyte system suitable for both anode and anode energy storage is constructed.
In terms of anode materials, dual ion battery commonly used anode materials mainly include carbon-based materials, transition metal oxides/sulfides, organic anode materials and alloyed anode materials. Especially, alloying anode, with the advantages of high specific capacity and moderate reaction point, has slowly come into people’s view and received attention from the industry.
Alloying anodes function through an electrochemical alloying reaction between the alloying element anode and the metal cations in the electrolyte. These alloyed anode materials tend to have excellent storage capacity for metal cations (e.g., AlLi) and excellent electrical conductivity (e.g., Al).
However, the drastic volume change of the alloyed anode during charging and discharging, and the poor multiplicity performance and cycling stability have seriously hindered their practical application, and a breakthrough is needed in both academia and industry.
Current status of dual ion battery research
China has also conducted a lot of research in the main areas of dual ion battery. For example, in dual ion battery anode research, represented by the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, for the first time put forward the cation alloying and anion insertion synergistic redox energy storage new mechanism, complete the new aluminum-graphite dual ion battery system construction, and simplify the structure of the battery, significantly improve the energy density, multiplier performance and safety;
In addition, the team from SIAS has been cooperating and exchanging ideas with Emma on dual ion battery and other products and technologies, and has entered the detailed design stage.
In the research of dual ion battery positive electrode, represented by Yan Xingbin’s group in Sun Yat-sen University, a systematic research has been carried out on the relationship between the microstructure of carbon-based positive electrode materials and the influence of electron/ion transport properties and the performance regulation law.
In terms of dual ion battery electrolyte research, Wang Hongyu’s group at the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), represented by Wang Hongyu, reported for the first time in 2016 a cyclobutanesulfone electrolyte system based on high antioxidant properties.
In terms of dual ion battery electrode/electrolyte interface stability enhancement, Cui Guanglei’s group at the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Process Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for the first time used lithium titanate as the graphite anode surface capping layer.
Industrialized application of dual ion battery
In the dual ion battery industrialization application, Japan as the earliest commercialization of dual ion battery country, the birth of a number of companies such as Power Japan Plus Company as a representative. In recent years, China has also begun the industrialization process of dual ion battery, and has entered the pilot R&D and mass production stage.
Shenzhen Advanced Technology Research Institute (SATRI) and its incubatee Shenzhen Zhongke Ruineng took the lead in carrying out the pilot research and development of dual ion battery and formed a perfect layout of intellectual property rights, and completed the pilot production line of dual ion battery battery cell and module.
We have developed a dual ion battery core with a single capacity of 20Ah and an energy density of 160Wh/kg, which has passed the test of a third organization, with a capacity retention rate of 86.3% for 8,000 cycles at a multiplier of 10C, and initially realized the demonstration of the application of a 60kWh dual ion battery energy storage system.
Development direction of dual ion battery
At this stage, dual ion battery both from the point of view of volume energy density, or weight energy density, there is still a big gap from the lithium-ion battery.
Mainly because dual ion battery on electrolyte demand is much higher than ordinary lithium-ion batteries, so the electrolyte in the battery weight accounted for a large proportion of the reduction in energy density caused by the electrolyte, while the electrolyte amount is too large also led to the dual ion battery in the current stage of the cost is significantly higher than lithium-ion batteries.
Meanwhile, the electrolyte, as the only source of active charge carriers in dual ion battery, plays a crucial role in battery performance. Therefore, choosing a good electrolyte to ensure sufficient ionic conductivity and excellent electrochemical stability is a major direction in the development of dual ion batteries.