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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Toward MBenes Battery Electrode Materials: Layered Molybdenum Borides for Li-Ion Batteries

Lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries (LIBs and SIBs) are crucial in our shift toward sustainable technologies. In this work, the potential of layered boride materials (MoAlB and Mo 2 AlB 2 ) as novel, high-performance electrode materials for LIBs and SIBs, is explored. It is discovered that Mo 2 AlB 2 shows a higher specific capacity than MoAlB when used as an electrode material for LIBs, with a specific capacity of 593 mAh g -1 achieved after 500 cycles at 200 mA g -1 . It is also found that surface redox reactions are responsible for Li storage in Mo 2 AlB 2 , instead of intercalation or conversion. Moreover, the sodium hydroxide treatment of MoAlB leads to a porous morphology and higher specific capacities exceeding that of pristine MoAlB. When tested in SIBs, Mo 2 AlB 2 exhibits a specific capacity of 150 mAh g -1 at 20 mA g -1 . These findings suggest that layered borides have potential as electrode materials for both LIBs and SIBs, and highlight the importance of surface redox reactions in Li storage mechanisms.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Probing Depth-Dependent Transition-Metal Redox of Lithium Nickel, Manganese, and Cobalt Oxides in Li-Ion Batteries

Layered lithium nickel, manganese, and cobalt oxides (NMC) are among the most promising commercial positive electrodes in the past decades. Understanding the detailed surface and bulk redox processes of Ni-rich NMC can provide useful insights into material design options to boost reversible capacity and cycle life. Both hard X-ray absorption (XAS) of metal K-edges and soft XAS of metal L-edges collected from charged LiNi 0.6 Mn 0.2 Co 0.2 O 2 (NMC622) and LiNi 0.8 Mn 0.1 Co 0.1 O 2 (NMC811) showed that the charge capacity up to removing ~0.7 Li/f.u. was accompanied with Ni oxidation in bulk and near the surface (up to 100 nm). Of significance to note is that nickel oxidation is primarily responsible for the charge capacity of NMC622 and 811 up to similar lithium removal (~0.7 Li/f.u.) albeit charged to different potentials, beyond which was followed by Ni reduction near the surface (up to 100 nm) due to oxygen release and electrolyte parasitic reactions. Overall, this observation points toward several new strategies to enhance reversible redox capacities of Ni-rich and/or Co-free electrodes for high-energy Li-ion batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Cobalt-Free Cathodes for Next Generation Li-Ion Batteries

In this U.S. Department of Energy sponsored project Nexceris, in collaboration with project partners; The Ohio State University and Navitas Advanced Systems have advanced the technical maturity of a non-cobalt containing cathode for next-generation Li-ion batteries. The cathode is based on the lithium manganese nickel-titanium oxide, LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 TiO 4 (LNMTO) high voltage spinel. To address limitations with poor cycle and calendar life an microstucturally hierarchical LNMO/LNMTO core-shell cathode powder has been developed that enables the formation of a solid-electrolyte interface that effectively passivates the cathode surface. The microstructural enhancements of the cathode material focus on preferentially enriching the surface with titanium. In parallel, new, optimized binder and electrolyte chemistries have been incorporated to address degradation mechanisms associated with high-voltage systems. Single-layer pouch cell and large-format 2-Ah cell testing have shown that an optimized LNMO/LNMTO core-shell powder significantly improves initial cell capacity and cycle life compared to homogeneous LNMO powder. To support development and the fabrication of 2-Ah cells a novel Hybrid Alternative Wet-Chemical Synthesis (HAWCS) process have been developed. This low-cost, synthesis approach enables the excellent compositional and particle morphology control achieved with co-precipitation without the strict process controls and associated expensive process equipment.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Electrolyte Design for Silicon-Based Li-Ion Battery Guided by Chemical Reactivity of Solvents with a Model Silicon Anode

Here, the use of a model compound trimethylsilyllithium was demonstrated to study the chemical reactions of electrolyte with as a principal guide to design electrolyte for silicon-based Li-ion battery. Me 3 Si - anion initiates ring-opening polymerization of EC leading to the formation of poly(ethylene ether carbonate), which subsequently defragments into oligomers and dissolves in electrolyte. FEC was found to react differently, generating LiF and vinylene carbonate (VC). Further reaction of VC with Me 3 SiLi generated poly(hydroxymethylene), which is a nonsoluble polymer and the critical SEI component. The insights from this study have guided the new electrolyte design for the Si-based battery.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Li-Ion Battery Thermal Characterization for Thermal Management Design

Battery design efforts often prioritize enhancing the energy density of the active materials and their utilization. However, optimizing thermal management systems at both the cell and pack levels is also key to achieving mission-relevant battery design. Battery thermal management systems, responsible for managing the thermal profile of battery cells, are crucial for balancing the trade-offs between battery performance and lifetime. Designing such systems requires accounting for the multitude of heat sources within battery cells and packs. This paper provides a summary of heat generation characterizations observed in several commercial Li-ion battery cells using isothermal battery calorimetry. The primary focus is on assessing the impact of temperatures, C-rates, and formation cycles. Moreover, a module-level characterization demonstrated the significant additional heat generated by module interconnects. Characterizing heat signatures at each level helps inform manufacturing at the design, production, and characterization phases that might otherwise go unaccounted for at the full pack level. Further testing of a 5 kWh battery pack revealed that a considerable temperature non-uniformity may arise due to inefficient cooling arrangements. To mitigate this type of challenge, a combined thermal characterization and multi-domain modeling approach is proposed, offering a solution without the need for constructing a costly module prototype.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Africa Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) Capacity Building Li-Ion Battery Degradation and Performance [Slides]

This presentation is intended for power system engineers, operators, and planners who work on isolated power systems that have (or may soon have) high levels of power generation coming from wind turbines, solar farms, and battery energy storage, which are collectively referred to as inverter-based resources. It describes the basics of lithium-ion battery energy storage systems and lithium-ion battery degradation. Battery degradation at the cell-level is explained, and then the structure and degradation of battery energy storage systems is also explained. This is intended to help power system engineers, operators, and planners to understand and effectively utilize battery energy storage systems.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Image-Based Digital Twin for Assessing the Coupled Electro-Chemo-Mechanical Behavior of Li-Ion Batteries

In energy storage materials, strong electrochemical-mechanical coupling and highly anisotropic material properties contribute to the formation and propagation of micro-cracking during charge/discharge cycling, resulting in reduced performance and service life. In this work, a digital twin is created to investigate the performance of a Li-ion battery cathode and simulate degradation accumulation. Pixel-based model construction is used to represent the complex material geometries from microstructural images supplied by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Because of the expected large deformation and crack opening, the reproducing kernel particle method (RKPM), a meshfree method with discretization at the image pixels, is used to approximate the field variables: electrostatic potential, concentration, and displacement. An interface modified reproducing kernel (IM-RK) is constructed by scaling a smooth kernel function with an interface-distance function to achieve strategic discontinuity types (i.e. weak discontinuities for strain discontinuities and strong discontinuities for cracks) and alleviate Gibbs oscillations near these transition zones. The discrete nature of the images' pixel points is employed throughout the model and approximation construction. The mechanical model is verified using an image-based microstructure under tensile loading. A transient electro-chemo-mechanical coupled simulation is performed to evaluate the potential micro-cracking induced degradation of the battery cathode material subjected to charge/discharge cycling.

battery degradation↗
DOE OSTI2024

Hydrogen Production and Li-Ion Battery Performance with MoS2-SiNWs-SWNTs@ZnONPs Nanocomposites

This study explores the hydrogen generation potential via water-splitting reactions under UV-vis radiation by using a synergistic assembly of ZnO nanoparticles integrated with MoS2, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), and crystalline silicon nanowires (SiNWs) to create the MoS2-SiNWs-SWNTs@ZnONPs nanocomposites. A comparative analysis of MoS2 synthesized through chemical and physical exfoliation methods revealed that the chemically exfoliated MoS2 exhibited superior performance, thereby being selected for all subsequent measurements. The nanostructured materials demonstrated exceptional surface characteristics, with specific surface areas exceeding 300 m2 g−1. Notably, the hydrogen production rate achieved by a composite comprising 5% MoS2, 1.7% SiNWs, and 13.3% SWNTs at an 80% ZnONPs base was approximately 3909 µmol h−1g−1 under 500 nm wavelength radiation, marking a significant improvement of over 40-fold relative to pristine ZnONPs. This enhancement underscores the remarkable photocatalytic efficiency of the composites, maintaining high hydrogen production rates above 1500 µmol h−1g−1 even under radiation wavelengths exceeding 600 nm. Furthermore, the potential of these composites for energy storage and conversion applications, specifically within rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, was investigated. Composites, similar to those utilized for hydrogen production but excluding ZnONPs to address its limited theoretical capacity and electrical conductivity, were developed. The focus was on utilizing MoS2, SiNWs, and SWNTs as anode materials for Li-ion batteries. This strategic combination significantly improved the electronic conductivity and mechanical stability of the composite. Specifically, the composite with 56% MoS2, 24% SiNWs, and 20% SWNTs offered remarkable cyclic performance with high specific capacity values, achieving a complete stability of 1000 mA h g−1 after 100 cycles at 1 A g−1. These results illuminate the dual utility of the composites, not only as innovative catalysts for hydrogen production but also as advanced materials for energy storage technologies, showcasing their potential in contributing to sustainable energy solutions.

Chemistry↗
DOE OSTI2020

Mitigation of Failure Propagation in Li-Ion Batteries

Propagation of thermal events from one damaged cell in a battery module to adjacent cells is a safety concern. A team of researchers from Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed a “safety-map” to evaluate propensity for failure propagation. The model results were used to evaluate passive thermal management designs for Li-ion battery modules.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Surface Oxygen Depletion of Layered Transition Metal Oxides in Li-Ion Batteries Studied by Operando Ambient Pressure X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

A new operando spectro-electrochemical setup was developed to study oxygen depletion from the surface of layered transition metal oxide particles at high degrees of delithiation. An NCM111 working electrode was paired with a chemically delithiated LiFePO 4 counter electrode in a fuel cell-inspired membrane electrode assembly (MEA). A propylene carbonate-soaked Li-ion conducting ionomer served as an electrolyte, providing both good electrochemical performance and direct probing of the NCM111 particles during cycling by ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The irreversible emergence of an oxygen-depleted phase in the O 1s spectra of the layered oxide particles was observed upon the first delithiation to high state-of-charge, which is in excellent agreement with oxygen release analysis via mass spectrometry analysis of such MEAs. By comparing the metal oxide-based O 1s spectral features to the Ni 2p 3/2 intensity, we can calculate the transition metal-to-oxygen ratio of the metal oxide close to the particle surface, which shows good agreement with the formation of a spinel-like stoichiometry as an oxygen-depleted phase. This new setup enables a deeper understanding of interfacial changes of layered oxide-based cathode active materials for Li-ion batteries upon cycling.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Operando pair distribution function analysis of nanocrystalline functional materials: the case of TiO 2 -bronze nanocrystals in Li-ion battery electrodes

Structural modelling of operando pair distribution function (PDF) data of complex functional materials can be highly challenging. To aid the understanding of complex operando PDF data, this article demonstrates a toolbox for PDF analysis. The tools include denoising using principal component analysis together with the structureMining , similarityMapping and nmfMapping apps available through the online service `PDF in the cloud' ( PDFitc , https://pdfitc.org/). The toolbox is used for both ex situ and operando PDF data for 3 nm TiO 2 -bronze nanocrystals, which function as the active electrode material in a Li-ion battery. The tools enable structural modelling of the ex situ and operando PDF data, revealing two pristine TiO 2 phases (bronze and anatase) and two lithiated Li x TiO 2 phases (lithiated versions of bronze and anatase), and the phase evolution during galvanostatic cycling is characterized.

Chemistry↗
NASA NTRS2006

Screening Li-Ion Batteries for Internal Shorts

The extremely high cost of aerospace battery failures due to internal shorts makes it essential that their occurrence be very rare, if not eliminated altogether. With Li-ion cells/batteries, the potentially catastrophic safety hazard that some internal shorts present adds additional incentive for prevention. Prevention can be achieved by design, manufacturing measures, and testing. Specifically for NASA s spacesuit application, a Li-ion polymer pouch cell battery design is in its final stages of production. One of the 20 flight batteries fabricated and tested developed a cell internal short, which did not present a safety hazard, but has required revisiting the entire manufacturing and testing process. Herein are the details of the failure investigation that followed to get to root cause of the internal short and the corrective actions that will be taken. The resulting lessons learned are applicable to most Li-ion battery applications.

Darcy, Eric↗
DOE OSTI2025

An unwanted guest in the electrochemical oxidation of high-voltage Li-ion battery electrolytes: the life of highly reactive protons

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are central to the urgent societal need to decarbonize both transportation and energy storage on the grid. Unfortunately, despite their attractive energy/power density, as well as high coulombic and energy efficiencies, further improvement of this technology – especially their durability – is desperately needed. To support these efforts, our study focuses on fundamental understanding of the decomposition pathways for LIB electrolytes at the cathode–electrolyte interface (CEI), as the nature of these reactions directly controls the extent to which cell capacity and voltage decays in these systems. In this study, we employ electrochemical methods, coupled with product analysis using NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, to determine the decomposition mechanisms in both model and technologically relevant electrolytes. Remarkably, we discovered the electrochemical formation of protons with high chemical activity, comparable to known superacids, at potentials relevant to practical Li-ion batteries. Their reactivity toward every individual component of the CEI provides a unified thermochemical origin for a myriad of side reactions that are commonly associated with the electrochemical reaction. In particular, electrochemically generated protons react with intact EC molecules to form CO 2 and other short and long chain ethers. They also undergo an acid–base reaction with LiPF 6 , to form the weaker acid HF, and with the cathode active material, leaching transition metals into the electrolyte. Collectively, the results of this study all point to the urgent need to either mitigate this proton formation or introduce benign harvesting additives via new electrolyte design strategies.

Ilic, Stefan [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), A↗
DOE OSTI2021

Investigating Ternary Li–Mg–Si Zintl Phase Formation and Evolution for Si Anodes in Li-Ion Batteries with Mg(TFSI) 2 Electrolyte Additive

Improved electrochemical performance of Si was recently reported by adding multivalent cation salts (such as Mg 2+ , Al 3+ , Ca 2+, etc.) in the electrolyte. This is achieved via the formation in an in situ manner of relatively more stable Li-M-Si ternary phases with less chemical reactivity. These phases stabilize Si anions and thus reduce side reactions with electrolytes at the surface and eventually benefit the overall electrochemistry. To understand the mechanism of ternary Zintl phase formation and its dynamics upon lithiation/delithiation, high-resolution solid-state 7 Li and 29 Si nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) are utilized to directly probe the local Li and Si environments on Si electrodes harvested from coin and pouch cells at various states of (de)lithiation. The NMR spectra along with the electrochemical characterization reveal that lithiation of Si starts from the surface Si-O layer further confirmed by 7 Li– 29 Si cross-polarization NMR. Lithiation progresses with heterogeneous silicon clustering with Si -4 anions at high states of lithiation. At a fully lithiated state, the formation of overlithiated Si species is detected. At a low-voltage region (below 100 mV), direct evidence for Mg-ion insertion is found, postulated by two possible mechanisms: ion exchange with fully or overlithiated binary domains (Li 3.75+x Si) and/or a coinsertion with slightly underlithiated domains (similar to Li 3.55 Si). Upon delithiation, Li extraction starts from overlithiated Si domains. No evidence is found for electrochemical Mg removal. Evidence for a lithium-deficient Li y Mg 0.1 Si phase is found as a result of Li removal during charging. This investigation sheds light on the possible mechanisms of a new Si anode chemistry, which could enable the development of stable Si-based anodes for lithium-ion batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

An overview of cobalt-free, nickel-containing cathodes for Li-ion batteries

The need for high-energy, low-cost batteries is projected to grow dramatically in the next decade due to electrification of the transportation market. Such demands are straining Li-ion supply chains for critical materials including lithium, nickel, and cobalt. Price instability, environment toxicity, and limits in the absolute supply lead to great concern for the continued use of cobalt. Similar to cobalt, the required grade of nickel for batteries, known as Class 1 nickel, has also been declining due to geological scarcity and low incentive prices. Herein, this review summarizes alternative cathode chemistries with no cobalt and reduced nickel content for high-energy Li-ion batteries targeting sustainable growth in the electric vehicle market. Further, the primary challenges associated with each material system are generally classified as being related to four common categories: (1) ion instability during charging, (2) poor electronic conductivity, (3) poor ionic conductivity, and (4) poor thermal stability.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Opportunities and challenges in cathode development for non-lithium-ion batteries

Lithium (Li)-ion batteries have stimulated the societal transformation to clean energy systems. This carry-on electricity is revolutionizing how society communicates, functions, and evolves efficiently by enabling mobile electronics, zero-emission electric vehicles, and stationary energy storage. In preparation for the sustainable energy future, however, there are growing concerns about depleting critical elements used in the Li technology (e.g., lithium, cobalt, and nickel), especially for large-scale applications that will accelerate the rate of elemental consumption. Various non-Li-based rechargeable batteries composed of earth-abundant elements, such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, have been proposed and explored as alternative systems to promote sustainable development of energy storage. In this perspective, we discuss challenges in Li-ion batteries in the sustainability aspect and provide our opinions on the potential applications of non-Li-based batteries. We also highlight the current status, important progress, and remaining challenges of the Li-alternative technologies.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗