Batteries

Mass marketing of battery-electric vehicles (EVs) will require that car buyers have high confidence in the performance, reliability and safety of the battery in their vehicles. Over the past decade, steady progress has been made towards the development of advanced battery diagnostic and prognostic technologies using data-driven methods that can be used to inform EV owners of the condition of their battery over its lifetime. The research has shown promise for accurately predicting battery state of health (SOH), state of safety (SOS), cycle life, the remaining useful life (RUL), and indicators of cells with high risk of failure (i.e., weak cells). These methods yield information about the battery that would be of great interest to EV owners, but at present it is not shared with them. This paper is concerned with the present status of the information available on the battery with a focus on data-driven diagnostic and prognostic approaches, and how the information would be generated in the future for the millions of EVs that will be on the road in the next decade. Finally, future trends and key challenges for the prognostics and health management of the batteries in real-world EV applications are presented from four perspectives (cloud-edge interaction, full-scale diagnosis, artificial intelligence and electronic health reports) are discussed. Full article

Due to the intrinsically high ionic conductivity and good interfacial stability towards lithium, garnet-type solid electrolytes are usually introduced into polymer electrolytes as fillers to prepare polymer/garnet composite electrolytes, which can improve the ionic conductivity and enhance the mechanical strength to suppress Li dendrites. However, the surface Li₂CO₃ and/or LiOH passive layers which form when garnet is exposed to the air greatly reduce the enhancement effect of garnet on the composite electrolyte. Furthermore, compared with micro-size particles, nano-size garnet fillers exhibit a better effect on enhancing the performance of composite solid electrolytes. Nevertheless, inferior organic/inorganic interphase compatibility and high specific surface energy of nanofillers inevitably cause agglomeration, which severely hinders the effect of nanoparticles for promoting composite solid electrolytes. Herein, a cost-effective amphipathic 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane coupling agent is introduced to modify garnet fillers, which effectively expands the air stability of garnet and greatly improves the dispersion of garnet fillers in the polymer matrix. The well-dispersed garnet filler/polymer interface is intimate through the bridging effect of the silane coupling agent, resulting in boosted ionic conductivity (0.72 × 10⁻⁴ S/cm at room temperature) of the composite electrolyte, enhanced stability against lithium dendrites (critical current density > 0.5 mA/cm²), and prolonged cycling life of LFP/Li full cells. Full article

The LiFePO4 (LFP) battery tends to underperform in low temperature: the available energy drops, while the state of charge (SOC) and residual available energy (RAE) estimation error increase dramatically compared to the result under room temperature, which causes mileage anxiety for drivers. This paper introduces an artificial intelligence-based electrical–thermal coupling battery model, presents an application-oriented procedure to estimate SOC and RAE for a reliable and effective battery management system, and puts forward a model-based strategy to control the battery thermal state in low temperature. Firstly, an LFP battery electrical model based on artificial intelligence is proposed to estimate the terminal voltage, and a thermal resistance model with an EKF estimation algorithm is established to assess the temperature distribution in the battery pack. Then, the electrical and thermal models are coupled, a closed-loop EKF algorithm is employed to estimate the battery SOC, and a fusion method is discussed. The coupled model is simulated under a given protocol and RAE can be obtained. Finally, based on the electrical–thermal coupling model and RAE calculation algorithm, a preheating method and constant power condition-based RAE estimation are discussed, and the thermal management strategy of the battery system under low temperature is formed. Results show that the estimation error of SOC can be controlled within 2% and RAE can be controlled within 4%, respectively. The preheating strategy at low temperature and low SOC can significantly improve the energy output of the battery pack system. Full article

In the circular economy, a closed-loop supply chain is essential to guarantee the logistics of raw materials to the correct destination of the end-of-life (EOL) product. This is magnified by hazardous products that can contaminate the environment, such as lead, as well as the people involved in their production processes. Through an exploratory study of multiple cases, we analyzed the Brazilian lead-based vehicle battery chain by investigating two main manufacturers, two recycling companies, and eight distributors/retailers. The aim of the study was to analyze the relationships between the actors in the lead acid battery chain and identify the mechanisms that induce recycling programs, and to propose an explanatory framework. The results indicate that although the sustainability strategies of OEMs are implemented by regulatory mechanisms, the impacts of these strategies cascade among all agents in the supply chain, promoting a convergence between actions and relationships between actors from the perspective of the triple bottom line, highlighting variables for each dimension (economic, social, and environmental). The study contributes to the consolidation of the triple bottom line concepts in the lead acid battery production chain and presents managerial implications for sustainability management. Full article

The novelty of this study is to suggest a novel design for electric vehicle charging stations using fuel cell technology. The proposed system benefits from the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) to utilize the exhaust energy of the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) stacks in addition to the Lithium-Ion battery to improve the efficiency by partial-load operation of the stacks at night. The study is supported by the thermodynamic analysis to obtain the characteristics of the system in each state point. To analyze the operation of the system during the partial-load operation, the dynamic performance of the system was developed during the day. Furthermore, the environmental impacts of the system were evaluated considering eighteen parameters using a life-cycle assessment (LCA). LCA results also revealed the effects of different fuels and working fluids for the SOFC stacks and ORC, respectively. Results show that the combination of SOFC and ORC units can generate 264.02 kWh with the respective overall energy and exergy efficiencies of 48.96% and 48.51%. The suggested 264.02 kWh contributes to global warming (kg CO₂ eq) by 5.17 × 10⁵, 8.36 × 10⁴, 2.5 × 10⁵, 1.98 × 10⁵, and 6.79 × 10⁴ using methane, bio-methanol, natural gas, biogas, and hydrogen as the fuel of the SOFC stacks. Full article

There is significant interest in finding a promising lithium-containing oxide that can act as a solid electrolyte in a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Li₆SiO₄Cl₂ is a candidate electrolyte material which was recently characterized using both experimental and computational techniques. In this study, density functional theory simulation was used to examine the intrinsic defects, solution of promising isovalent and aliovalent dopants, possible reaction routes for the formation of Li₆SiO₄Cl_2, and the feasibility of incorporating additional Li in this material. The results revealed that the O–Cl anti-site cluster was the lowest energy defect in this material. The LiCl Schottky was the second lowest energy defect process, and the Li Frenkel was higher—only by 0.06 eV—than the LiCl Schottky. The candidate dopants on the Li, Si and Cl were Na, Ge and F, respectively. Substituting Al on the Si site was an efficient way of increasing the amount of Li in this material. Incorporation of extra Li (up to three) was considered and this process was endothermic. Different chemical reaction routes were constructed and their reaction energies were calculated to predict the feasibility of the formation of Li₆SiO₄Cl₂. The formation of Li₆SiO₄Cl₂ from constituent elements (Li, Si O₂ and Cl₂) is thermodynamically feasible. Full article

A high cut-off voltage is required for nickel-rich layered oxide LiNi_xCo_yMn_zO₂ (NCM) to meet the high energy density requirement of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles. However, such a high voltage application leads to an unstable interface between NCM and liquid electrolytes. To stabilize the interface, the facile wet impregnation method has been developed to apply an ultra-thin Al₂O₃ coating layer on the NCM particles. This coating layer was found to have a strong interaction with the NCM and resulted in Al-doped NCM at the surface structure of NCM. The change of surface structure can not only reduce the surface resistance of lithium diffusion of LiNi_0.5Co_0.2Mn_0.3O₂ (NCM523), but also stabilize the solid electrolyte interface between NCM523 and the electrolyte with the cut-off voltage of 4.5 V vs. Li/Li⁺. Compared to other coating methods, wet impregnation coating can provide an ultra-thin and uniform coating with surface doping on NCM particles. Furthermore, this scalable coating method can be applied to various electrode materials without adding much additional cost. Full article

Hybrid supercapacitors have been developed in the pursuit of increasing the energy density of conventional supercapacitors without affecting the power density or the lifespan. Potassium-ion hybrid supercapacitors (KIC) consist of an activated carbon capacitor-type positive electrode and a graphitic battery-type negative one working in an electrolyte based on potassium salt. Overcoming the inherent potassium problems (irreversible capacity, extensive volume expansion, dendrites formation), the non-reproducibility of the results was a major obstacle to the development of this KIC technology. To remedy this, the development of an adequate formation protocol was necessary. However, this revealed a cell-swelling phenomenon, a well-known issue whether for supercapacitors or Li-ion batteries. This phenomenon in the case of the KIC technology has been investigated through constant voltage (CV) tests and volume measurements. The responsible phenomena seem to be the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation at the negative electrode during the first use of the system and the perpetual decomposition of the electrolyte solvent at high voltage. Thanks to these results, a proper formation protocol for KICs, which offers good energy density (14 Wh·kg_{electrochemical core}⁻¹) with an excellent stability at fast charging rate, was developed. Full article

Lithium-ion battery state of health (SOH) accurate prediction is of great significance to ensure the safe reliable operation of electric vehicles and energy storage systems. However, safety issues arising from the inaccurate estimation and prediction of battery SOH have caused widespread concern in academic and industrial communities. In this paper, a method is proposed to build an accurate SOH prediction model for battery packs based on multi-output Gaussian process regression (MOGPR) by employing the initial cycle data of the battery pack and the entire life cycling data of battery cells. Firstly, a battery aging experimental platform is constructed to collect battery aging data, and health indicators (HIs) that characterize battery aging are extracted. Then, the correlation between the HIs and the battery capacity is evaluated by the Pearson correlation analysis method, and the HIs that own a strong correlation to the battery capacity are screened. Finally, two MOGPR models are constructed to predict the HIs and SOH of the battery pack. Based on the first MOGPR model and the early HIs of the battery pack, the future cycle HIs can be predicted. In addition, the predicted HIs and the second MOGPR model are used to predict the SOH of the battery pack. The experimental results verify that the approach has a competitive performance; the mean and maximum values of the mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) are 1.07% and 1.42%, and 1.77% and 2.45%, respectively. Full article

Li-ion batteries are in demand due to technological advancements in the electronics industry; thus, expanding the battery supply chain and improving its electrochemical performance is crucial. Carbon materials are used to increase the cyclic stability and specific capacity of cathode materials, which are essential to batteries. LiFePO₄ (LFP) cathodes are generally safe and have a long cycle life. However, the common LFP cathode has a low inherent conductivity, and adding a carbon nanomaterial significantly influences how well it performs electrochemically. Therefore, the major focus of this review is on the importance, current developments, and future possibilities of carbon-LFP (C-LFP) cathodes in LIBs. Recent research on the impacts of different carbon sizes, LFP’s shape, diffusion, bonding, additives, dopants, and surface functionalization was reviewed. Overall, with suitable modifications, C-LFP cathodes are expected to bring many benefits to the energy storage sector in the forthcoming years. Full article

Li-rich layered oxides utilizing reversible oxygen redox are promising cathodes for high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries. However, they exhibit different electrochemical profiles before and after oxygen redox activation. Therefore, advanced characterization techniques have been developed to explore the fundamental understanding underlying their unusual phenomenon, such as the redox evolution of these materials. In this review, we present the general redox evolution of Li-rich layered cathodes upon activation of reversible oxygen redox. Various synchrotron X-ray spectroscopy methods which can identify charge compensation by cations and anions are summarized. The case-by-case redox evolution processes of Li-rich 3d/4d/5d transition metal O3 type layered cathodes are discussed. We highlight that not only the type of transition metals but also the composition of transition metals strongly affects redox behavior. We propose further studies on the fundamental understanding of cationic and anionic redox mixing and the effect of transition metals on redox behavior to excite the full energy potential of Li-rich layered cathodes. Full article

Sodium-ion battery technology rapidly develops in the post-lithium-ion landscape. Among the variety of studied anode materials, hard carbons appear to be the realistic candidates because of their electrochemical performance and relative ease of production. This class of materials can be obtained from a variety of precursors, and the most ecologically important and interesting route is the synthesis from biomass. In the present work, for the first time, hard carbons were obtained from Heracleum sosnowskyi, a highly invasive plant, which is dangerous for humans and can cause skin burns but produces a large amount of green biomass in a short time. We proposed a simple synthesis method that includes the pretreatment stage and further carbonization at 1300 °C. The effect of the pretreatment of giant hogweed on the hard carbon electrochemical properties was studied. Obtained materials demonstrate >220 mAh g⁻¹ of the discharge capacity, high values of the initial Coulombic efficiency reaching 87% and capacity retention of 95% after 100 charge-discharge cycles in sodium half-cells. Key parameters of the materials were examined by means of different analytical, spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The possibility of using the giant hogweed-based hard carbons in real batteries is demonstrated with full sodium-ion cells with NASICON-type Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃ cathode material. Full article

Electric vehicle (EV) markets have evolved. In this regard, rechargeable batteries such as lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries become critical in EV applications. However, the nonlinear features of Li-ion batteries make their performance over their lifetime, reliability, and control more difficult. In this regard, the battery management system (BMS) is crucial for monitoring, handling, and improving the lifespan and reliability of this type of battery from cell to pack levels, particularly in EV applications. Accordingly, the BMS should control and monitor the voltage, current, and temperature of the battery system during the lifespan of the battery. In this article, the BMS definition, state of health (SoH) and state of charge (SoC) methods, and battery fault detection methods were investigated as crucial aspects of the control strategy of Li-ion batteries for assessing and improving the reliability of the system. Moreover, for a clear understanding of the voltage behavior of the battery, the open-circuit voltage (OCV) at three ambient temperatures, 10 °C, 25 °C, and 45 °C, and three different SoC levels, 80%, 50%, and 20%, were investigated. The results obtained showed that altering the ambient temperature impacts the OCV variations of the battery. For instance, by increasing the temperature, the voltage fluctuation at 45 °C at low SoC of 50% and 20% was more significant than in the other conditions. In contrast, the rate of the OCV at different SoC in low and high temperatures was more stable. Full article

In this study, cobalt-nickel (Co-Ni), cobalt-iron (Co-Fe), cobalt-iron-manganese (Co-Fe-Mn), cobalt-iron-molybdenum (Co-Fe-Mo), and cobalt-zinc (Co-Zn) coatings were studied as catalysts towards the evolution of hydrogen (HER) and oxygen (OER). The binary and ternary Co coatings were deposited on a copper surface using the electroless metal plating technique and morpholine borane (MB) as a reducing agent. The as-deposited Co-Ni, Co-Fe, Co-Fe-Mn, Co-Fe-Mo, and Co-Zn coatings produce compact and crack-free layers with typical globular morphology. It was found that the Co-Fe-Mo coating gives the lowest overpotential of 128.0 mV for the HER and the lowest overpotential of 455 mV for the OER to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm⁻². The HER and OER current density values increase 1.4–2.0 times with an increase in temperature from 25 °C to 55 °C using the prepared 3D binary or ternary cobalt coatings for HER and OER. The highest mass electrocatalytic activity of 1.55 mA µg⁻¹ for HER and 2.72 mA µg⁻¹ for OER was achieved on the Co-Fe coating with a metal loading of 28.11 µg cm⁻² at 25 °C. Full article

The lithium-ion battery is considered the primary power supply source for electric vehicles due to its high-energy density, long lifespan, and no memory effect. Its performance and safety highly depend on its operating temperature. Therefore, a battery thermal management system is necessary to ensure an electric vehicle (EV)’s performance. Air as a cooling medium is still used in a wide range of thermal management system applications, owing to its low-cost and lightweight. However, the conventional air-based cooling strategy shows an insufficient heat dissipation capacity and usually fails to block the thermal runaway propagation between batteries. Thus, it is of great importance for improving the heat dissipation of an air-based thermal management system. In this paper, three novel schemes (schemes B, C, and D) are introduced successively based on enhancing the heat transfer capacity and safety of a battery pack under a thermal runaway condition. Schemes B and C introduce a hollow spoiler prism and a spoiler prism filled with phase-change material with fins, respectively. The cooling effects of the three schemes are compared using computational fluid dynamics technology. The models of all the schemes are 3D symmetrical structures. In the CFD model, the battery heat-generating sub-model is incorporated through a user-defined function. The results indicate that all three schemes reduce the maximum temperature and the maximum temperature difference in the pack effectively compared with the conventional air cooling system. Scheme D presents the best cooling performance and hinders the propagation of the TR between adjacent batteries under a TR condition. The paper may provide a feasible method for improving the performance of an air-cooled thermal battery management system. Full article

Sodium metal anodes have attracted great attention for the development of a next generation of high-energy batteries because of their high theoretical capacity (1166 mAh·g⁻¹), low redox potential (−2.71 V vs. SHE), and abundance. However, sodium reacts with most of the liquid electrolytes described to date and it has the shortcoming of dendrite formation during sodium deposition. Several strategies have been proposed to overcome these issues, including the incorporation of electrolyte additives. This work reports on the use of SO₂ and sulfolane as additives in organic electrolytes to modify the sodium–electrolyte interphase, making the sodium plating/stripping process more robust. Not only is the process more stable in the case of sodium metal anodes, but also the use of copper substrates is enabled. In fact, high-quality sodium films on copper have been attained by adding small mole fractions of the additives, which paves the way for the development of anode-free batteries. In a general vein, this work stresses the importance of researching on compatible and cost-effective additives that can be easily implemented in practice. Full article

Transition metal-based sodium fluoro-perovskite of general formula NaMF₃ (M = Fe, Mn, and Co) were investigated as cathode materials for rechargeable Na-ion batteries. Preliminary results indicated Na-ion reversible intercalation but highlighted the need to find optimization strategies to improve conductivity and to modulate the operating voltages within experimentally accessible electrolytes’ stability windows, in order to fully exploit their potential as high-voltage cathodes. In this study, we combined experimental and computational techniques to investigate structures, defects, and intercalation properties of the NaFe_1-xMn_xF₃ and NaCo_1-xMn_xF₃ systems. Through the use of a simple solvothermal synthesis, we demonstrated the possibility to modulate the sample’s morphology in order to obtain fine and dispersed powder samples. The structural results indicated the formations of two solid solutions with a perovskite structure over the entire compositional range investigated. Atomistic simulations suggested that Na-ion diffusion in these systems was characterized by relatively high migration barriers and it was likely to follow three-dimensional paths, thus limiting the effect of anti-site defects. The correlation between structural and computational data highlighted the possibility to modulate both ionic and electronic conductivity as a function of the composition. Full article

Battery models are one of the most important tools for understanding the behaviour of batteries. This is particularly important for the fast-moving electrical vehicle industry, where new battery chemistries are continually being developed. The main limiting factor on how fast battery models can be developed is the experimental technique used for collection of data required for model parametrisation. Currently, this is a very time-consuming process. In this paper, a fast novel parametrisation testing technique is presented. A model is then parametrised using this testing technique and compared to a model parametrised using current common testing techniques. This comparison is conducted using a WLTP (worldwide harmonised light vehicle test procedure) drive cycle. As part of the validation, the experiments were conducted at different temperatures and repeated using two different temperature control methods: climate chamber and a Peltier element temperature control method. The new technique introduced in this paper, named AMPP (accelerated model parametrisation procedure), is as good as GITT (galvanostatic intermittent titration technique) for parametrisation of ECMs (equivalent circuit models); however, it is 90% faster. When using experimental data from a climate chamber, a model parametrised using GITT was marginally better than AMPP; however, when using experimental data using conductive control, such as the ICP (isothermal control platform), a model parametrised using AMPP performed as well as GITT at 25 °C and better than GITT at 10 °C. Full article

Electrical energy is critical to the advancement of both social and economic growth. Because of its importance, the electricity industry has historically been controlled and operated by governmental entities. The power market is being deregulated, and it has been modified throughout time. Both regulated and deregulated electricity markets have benefits and pitfalls in terms of energy costs, efficiency, and environmental repercussions. In regulated markets, policy-based strategies are often used to deal with the costs of fossil fuel resources and increase the feasibility of renewable energy sources. Renewables may be incorporated into deregulated markets by a mix of regulatory and market-based approaches, as described in this paper, to increase the systems economic stability. As the demand for energy has increased substantially in recent decades, particularly in developing nations, the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions has increased fast, as have fuel prices, which are the primary motivators for programmers to use renewable energy sources more effectively. Despite its obvious benefits, renewable energy has considerable drawbacks, such as irregularity in generation, because most renewable energy supplies are climate-dependent, demanding complex design, planning, and control optimization approaches. Several optimization solutions have been used in the renewable-integrated deregulated power system. Energy storage technology has risen in relevance as the usage of renewable energy has expanded, since these devices may absorb electricity generated by renewables during off-peak demand hours and feed it back into the grid during peak demand hours. Using renewable energy and storing it for future use instead of expanding fossil fuel power can assist in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. There is a desire to maximize the societal benefit of a deregulated system by better using existing power system capacity through the implementation of an energy storage system (ESS). As a result, good ESS device placement offers innovative control capabilities in steady-state power flow regulation as well as dynamic stability management. This paper examines numerous elements of renewable integrated deregulated power systems and gives a comprehensive overview of the most current research breakthroughs in this field. The main objectives of the reviews are the maximization of system profit, maximization of social welfare and minimization of system generation cost and loss by optimal placement of energy storage devices and renewable energy systems. This study will be very helpful for the power production companies who want to build new renewable-based power plant by sighted the present status of renewable energy sources along with the details of several EES systems. The incorporation of storage devices in the renewable-incorporated deregulated system will provide maximum social benefit by supplying additional power to the thermal power plant with minimum cost. Full article