A team of researchers in China is using artificial intelligence to help breathe new life into old electric vehicle batteries. Extending the lifespan of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles would be a major boon for making electric vehicles more endurable and cost-effective, help mitigate skyrocketing lithium demand, and slow the flow of critical – not to mention toxic – minerals into landfills.
The China-based scientists wanted to discover a molecule that could re-infuse a dead cell with lithium ions, replenishing its capacity. An electric vehicle battery is considered dead when its capacity dips below 80 percent of its original value. This usually is about eight to ten years after the battery is manufactured. But by pumping lithium ions back into a cell after it reaches the end of its life cycle, batteries could be brought back from the dead.
The question was what molecules would be able to achieve this re-infusion. The possible combinations are enormous and would require enormous amounts of time and resources to test in a lab. So the researchers decided to employ artificial intelligence to figure it out for them. “We had no idea what kinds of molecules could do that job or what their chemical structures would be, so we used machine learning to help us,” Chihao Zhao, part of the research team at Fudan University, was recently quoted by Scientific American.
The artificial intelligence model determined that three different molecules would fulfill all of the requirements outlined by the scientists. Of those three, the researchers determined one to be the best fit – a salt called lithium trifluoromethanesulfinate (LiSO2CF3). In the researchers’ study paper, published in Nature earlier this year, they describe how the identified lithium salt could help to break past traditional battery lifespan limitations “by means of a cell-level Li supply strategy.”
“This involves externally adding an organic Li salt into an assembled cell, which decomposes during cell formation, liberating Li ions and expelling organic ligands as gases,” the paper goes on to say. “This non-invasive and rapid process preserves cell integrity without necessitating disassembly.”
The result is a lithium-ion battery capable of being recharged for 11,818 cycles while still retaining a capacity of 96 percent – an amazing feat with the potential to increase the lifespan of commercial electric vehicle batteries by orders of magnitude. “These systems exhibit improved energy density, enhanced sustainability, and reduced cost compared with conventional Li-ion batteries,” the paper states.
While the research is extremely nascent, it could prove disruptive to the EV sector if refined and scaled. Making electric vehicle batteries less expensive could have a major impact on what remains a cost-prohibitive transition for many would-be consumers. The battery alone represents about 40 percent of the cost of an electric vehicle. Making batteries more cost-effective, efficient, and durable could therefore make a big difference in EV markets.
Plus, it will offer a reprieve to the mounting issue of battery waste. A mini-report from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) says that by 2040, the world will reach 20,500 kilotons of dead lithium-ion batteries, mostly from electric vehicles. But current global battery recycling capacities are just around 350,000 tons per year, with capacities concentrated in China.
Scientists have looked to AI to improve lithium-ion battery recycling capacities as well, motivated in part by a drive to break China’s stranglehold on the sector. A Hong Kong startup is employing artificial intelligence to refine a portable lithium-ion battery recycling system that uses a robot-assisted pilot line to sort, shred, and filter desirable materials from used batteries. Notably, this system does not include electric vehicle batteries, but could provide a launch pad for similar systems geared at the growing EV waste problem.
By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com
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