An innovative way to make batteries cheaper and more efficient

A team of scientists has found a new way to make batteries cheaper and more efficient using small amounts of widely available doping elements, such as aluminum and silicon.

The whole world relies heavily on lithium-ion batteries, which are used in our cars and mobile phones, as well as for energy storage. But it suffers from a host of problems, including its heavy reliance on scarce and expensive resources.

So, scientists are seeking to provide more efficient and sustainable materials for battery cathodes, the part where important electron exchanges take place, and where many problems occur.

Last year, scientists announced that they had found a new, highly efficient cathode material that works using iron-oxygen reactions. But charging and recharging the batteries produced oxygen.

Now, the research team says the "doping" process could overcome this problem, making the new technology useful.

"We have now found that recyclability can be significantly enhanced by introducing small amounts of abundant elements, such as aluminum, silicon, phosphorus and sulfur, into the crystal structure of the cathode," said Hiroaki Kobayashi, from Japan's Hokkaido University.

These new ideas can increase the stability of batteries so that they retain their charge by up to 90%.

“We will continue to develop these new ideas, hoping to make a significant contribution to advances in battery technology that will be crucial if electric power is to replace the widespread use of fossil fuels,” Kobayashi added.

The research, titled “Towards cost-effective, high-energy lithium-ion battery cathodes,” was published in the journal ACS Materials Letters.