Iranian Researchers Making Efforts to Produce Aluminum-Ion Batteries
“The mechanism of operation of ionic batteries is the movement of ions between electrodes through an ionic liquid electrolyte. Ions leave the anode and enter the cathode during the discharge process. During charging, the opposite process occurs and the electrode plays a significant role in the performance of the battery,” Salehi Monfared, one of the researchers of the plan, explained.
He underlined that investigating the impact of composites on the specific capacity and electrochemical cyclability of the battery and optimizing the size and morphology of the cathode active material powders are among the goals of the research.
“The results of this project will help to create indigenized know-how for production of cathode electrode of the aluminum-ion battery or aluminum supercapacitor, and the product sample can be produced even by the existing possibilities,” Monfared said.
He noted that the aluminum-ion rechargeable batteries have been considered as a promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries, adding that the use of high capacity materials is because these structures provide a new way to achieve energy storage with high energy density at high charging speeds.
In a relevant development in August, a professor of Physics at Tehran-based Sharif University of Technology (SUT) in cooperation with a research group from Shanghai University in China, offered a new formula for hybrid structure of carbon nanotubes and silicon nanoparticles as the anode of a lithium batteries.
Ali Esfandiar, an associate professor of Physics at Sharif University of Technology (SUT) in collaboration with a group of international researchers showed in laboratory and numerical simulation that the design of suitable functional groups on carbon nanotubes can result in better contact with the surface of silicon nanoparticles.
Despite the very high storage capacity of lithium ion in the atomic structure of silicon as an alternative to the conventional graphite anode, the large and irreversible volume change of the new silicon anodes in lithium ion batteries usually causes the physical fracture of the particle, which causes the disconnection of the conductive agent and the metal context. This unwanted phenomenon leads to unbalanced charge distribution on silicon surfaces in fast charging or low temperature conditions and ultimately reduces the battery’s capacity.
Therefore, the stable and reversible distribution of silicon in the state of lithium ion storage with good mechanical stability in order to withstand large volume change of silicon and maintain the strength and adhesive properties of the material is a big challenge.
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