Search Results (2,323)

In battery systems, external mechanical compression is commonly applied to pouch/prismatic cells to improve their electrical performance and mechanical integrity. However, cell clamping can hinder system heat rejection by introducing an additional thermal insulation layer. A novel battery clamping scheme was designed with reduced contact area to explore the system thermal behaviour under different cooling regimes. Experimental data obtained from battery characterisation and performance tests is analysed with a thermal-coupled equivalent circuit model to quantify changes in cell impedance and system thermal properties. By reducing the clamping area by 70%, the temperature rise of the cell was decreased by 0.5 °C in comparison to the reference condition of a cell with no clamping during a 1C discharge under natural convection. Under immersion cooling using BOT2100 dielectric liquid, the thermal benefit was amplified, resulting in temperature reductions of 0.9 °C at 1C and 4 °C at 3C. The principal conclusion of this work is that reshaping the clamping plate has the potential to reduce ohmic heating by lowering battery internal resistance, which outweighs the additional thermal resistance introduced by partial surface coverage. This novel experimental approach demonstrates the potential to improve battery thermal management through geometry-optimised cell clamping, particularly for high-power applications, and further directs the community towards cell clamping solution designed to optimise both thermal and mechanical cell performance. Full article

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have emerged as one of the most promising alternatives to lithium-ion systems, driven by the abundance and low cost of sodium resources as well as the urgent demand for sustainable large-scale energy storage. In recent years, remarkable advances have been achieved in electrode materials, electrolytes, and interfacial engineering, which have significantly improved the electrochemical performance of SIBs. Hard carbons and alloy-type anodes have shown encouraging progress in balancing capacity and stability, while layered oxides, polyanionic compounds, and Prussian blue analogues are leading candidates for cathodes due to their structural diversity and tunable redox properties. Concurrently, the development of advanced liquid and solid electrolytes, together with strategies to control the solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI) and cathode–electrolyte interphase (CEI), is enhancing safety and long-term cycling. Despite these achievements, critical challenges remain, including limited energy density, volumetric expansion in alloying anodes, interfacial instability, and scalability issues. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the fundamental principles, recent material innovations, and failure mechanisms of SIBs, and highlights the current status of industrial progress led by companies such as Faradion, HiNa Battery, CATL, and Tiamat. Finally, future perspectives are discussed, emphasizing the role of sodium-ion technology in grid-scale storage, renewable energy integration, and sustainable battery recycling. By bridging academic advances and industrial development, this article outlines the roadmap toward the commercialization of sodium-ion batteries. Full article

State-of-charge (SOC) estimation for lithium-ion batteries in smartphones is complicated by nonlinear load variation, electro-thermal coupling, aging effects, and heterogeneous user behaviors. This study proposes a multi-physics coupled SOC estimation framework, termed the Multi-Physics Thermo-Electrochemical Coupled SOC Model (MTEC-SOC), to characterize battery behavior under representative user-load conditions within controlled ambient thermal boundaries. The model combines system-level power profiling, thermal evolution, voltage dynamics, and aging-related capacity correction within a unified framework. To support model development and validation, a dual-source dataset is established using laboratory battery characterization data and real-world smartphone behavioral data, from which users are classified into light, heavy, and mixed usage patterns. Comparative results against four benchmark models (M1–M4) show that MTEC-SOC achieves the highest overall accuracy, with average MAE, RMSE, and TTE error values of 0.0091, 0.0118, and 0.08 h, respectively. The results suggest distinct degradation tendencies across user types: calendar aging dominates under prolonged high-voltage dwell in light-use scenarios, whereas, within the tested thermal range, heavy-use scenarios exhibit stronger voltage sag, relative temperature rise, and polarization-related stress; mixed-use scenarios are characterized by transient responses induced by abrupt load switching. Sensitivity analysis further indicates that the predictive behavior of the model is strongly scenario-dependent, with higher-load operation within the calibrated range amplifying parameter perturbations. Overall, the proposed MTEC-SOC framework provides accurate SOC estimation and physically interpretable insight within the evaluated dataset and operating conditions, offering potential guidance for battery management and energy optimization in intelligent mobile terminals. Full article

To address the inherent low voltage and poor energy density of LiFePO₄, LiFe_0.6Mn_0.4PO₄ (LFMP) has emerged as a promising cathode for next-generation lithium-ion batteries. However, its practical application is severely hindered by intrinsic limitations such as low electronic conductivity and sluggish Li⁺ diffusion. To address these challenges, this study investigates the effects of silver (Ag) doping on the structural and electrochemical performance of LFMP. Through a facile high-temperature solid-state approach, Ag⁺ ions are successfully incorporated into the LFMP matrix, and the resulting material (LFMP-Ag) is systematically characterized. The results reveal that partial Ag is doped into the LFMP lattice while an Ag-rich secondary phase within LFMP particles is detected, significantly enhancing the charge transfer kinetics. The Ag-doped LFMP cathodes exhibit superior discharge capacity of 142.1 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 C, enhanced rate capability, better cyclic stability (92.3% retention after 300 cycles) and enhanced thermal stability, surpassing the undoped LFMP counterparts. These findings demonstrate that Ag doping is an effective strategy for optimizing the electrochemical performance of LFMP cathodes, offering a viable pathway toward advanced battery technologies. Full article

Lithium sulfide (Li₂S) is indispensable for lithium–sulfur batteries and sulfide solid-state batteries. However, its high preparation cost and strict process conditions represent core bottlenecks restricting large-scale commercial application. To address this issue, a novel process featuring a low-cost, high-safety, and controllable reaction is proposed in this work. Compared with the commercial H₂S-based route for Li₂S production, the developed process presents distinct advantages, including accessible raw materials, high safety, low overall cost, and low environmental load. Using Li₂SO₄·H₂O as the raw material and Ti as the reducing agent, high-purity T-Li₂S (>99.9%) is successfully synthesized via solid-state sintering and purification, yielding a higher purity level than that of commercial C-Li₂S (>99.7%). Furthermore, sulfide all-solid-state electrolytes T-Li_5.3PS_4.3ClBr_0.7 and C-Li_5.3PS_4.3ClBr_0.7 are prepared using the as-obtained T-Li₂S and commercial C-Li₂S as precursors, respectively. The room-temperature Li-ion conductivities are determined to be 14.5 mS/cm and 11.0 mS/cm, revealing faster ion migration and efficient ion transport in T-Li_5.3PS_4.3ClBr_0.7 without high-temperature assistance, which fully validates the feasibility of the proposed strategy. Overall, this work provides a new technical route for the preparation of high-purity Li₂S, showing promising application prospects. Full article

Battery datasets, whether gathered experimentally or through simulation, are typically high-dimensional and complex, which complicates the direct interpretation of degradation behavior or anomaly detection. To overcome these limitations, this study introduces a framework that compresses battery signals into a low-dimensional representation using an autoencoder, enabling the extraction of informative features for state analysis. A central component of this work is the systematic comparison of latent representations obtained from two fundamentally different data sources: frequency-domain impedance data and time-domain voltage-current data. The close agreement of aging trajectories in both representations suggests that information traditionally derived from impedance analysis can also be captured directly from raw time-series signals. To better approximate real operating conditions, synthetic datasets are augmented with stochastic perturbations. In this context, latent spaces learned from idealized periodic inputs are contrasted with those derived from permuted and noise-contaminated signals. The resulting low-dimensional features are subsequently evaluated through a support vector machine with both linear and nonlinear kernel functions, allowing the categorization of battery states into fresh, aged and damaged conditions. The results demonstrate that the progression of battery degradation is consistently reflected in the latent space, independent of the input domain or signal quality. This robustness indicates that the proposed approach can effectively capture essential aging characteristics even under non-ideal conditions. Consequently, this framework provides a basis for developing advanced diagnostic strategies, including the design of pseudo-random excitation profiles for improved battery state assessment and optimized operational control. Full article

Both Co-free and lithium- and manganese-rich layered oxide Li(Li_0.2Mn_xNi_yFe_z)O₂ (MNF) cathodes have recently attracted attention in lithium-ion battery (LIB) research due to their high capacities of over 250 mAhg⁻¹, as well as being more eco-friendly and inexpensive than commercial NMC and LiCoO₂. However, they still suffer from lower experimental capacity as well as capacity decay, voltage fade, poor rate capability, and thermal instability. In this paper, fluorine (F)-doped Li_1.2(Mn_0.5Ni_0.2Fe_0.1)O_2(1−x)F_2x (MNF502010, x = 0, 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, 0.1) cathode materials have been synthesized in the nanoscale via sol–gel and subsequent solid-phase calcination to address some of these problems. The resulting 5% F-doped MNF502010 cathode demonstrates the advantage of fluorine doping, which makes a significant contribution to the formation of a well-ordered layer structure with a minimal LiM₂O₄ spinel phase as an impurity. This composition achieves an initial discharge capacity of 252 mAhg⁻¹ (1C = 250 mAhg⁻¹) and a 156 mAhg⁻¹ discharge capacity at 0.3 C on the 100th discharge, with an average voltage fade of 0.24 V. The optimization of fluorine composition results in an enhancement in the activation of the Li₂MnO₃-type monoclinic phase, as well as an increase in the electronic conductivity compared to the fluorine-free cathode. To understand the structural origin of this improved performance, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measurements were carried out on pristine and cycled MNF electrodes. Full article

Autonomous battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have the potential to reshape urban mobility systems, yet their sustainability impacts remain underexplored in Gulf-region cities where traffic dynamics, land-use structures, and environmental conditions differ substantially from Western contexts. This study introduces a Saudi-specific assessment framework that integrates monetised externalities with empirically calibrated traffic dynamics to evaluate how automation influences safety, congestion, land use, emissions, and noise. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first Riyadh-calibrated monetised external-cost evaluation of autonomous BEVs that couples externality valuation with simulation-validated time-varying traffic dynamics (SAR per vkm and SAR per pkm), enabling realistic peak-period sustainability assessment. The framework’s key contribution is linking external-cost modelling with spatiotemporal traffic behaviour derived from Riyadh’s 2023 mobility patterns, providing a more realistic basis for sustainability evaluation. Using national datasets from transport, energy, and statistical authorities, the model estimates substantial reductions in external costs when transitioning from human-driven to autonomous BEVs, driven primarily by lower crash exposure and smoother traffic flow. To validate these findings under real operating conditions, a dynamic analysis incorporating hourly and seasonal traffic variability was developed, revealing that automation delivers its strongest improvements during peak-demand periods where congestion externalities are highest. The integrated results demonstrate the relevance of autonomous BEVs for dense rapidly growing Saudi cities and provide actionable insights for future mobility planning. The study highlights the policy importance of coordinated transport, land-use, and energy strategies to ensure that automation contributes meaningfully to national sustainability goals under Vision 2030. Full article

The operational safety and endurance of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are strongly affected by lithium-ion battery degradation under extreme thermal environments. However, conventional physics-based models often rely on simplified assumptions, whereas purely data-driven methods usually lack physical interpretability and robust generalization. To address these limitations, this study proposes a Physics-Informed Deep Neural Network (PIDNN) for predicting UAV battery degradation under complex environmental conditions. The proposed framework integrates thermodynamic and fluid dynamic principles with deep neural networks by incorporating physical constraints derived from heat generation, heat conduction, and convective heat transfer into the loss function. This design enables the model to capture nonlinear degradation patterns while maintaining consistency with fundamental physical laws. Comprehensive simulation-based experiments were conducted under high-temperature (45 °C), low-temperature (−20 °C), and room-temperature (25 °C) conditions, together with varying discharge rates, humidity levels, wind speeds, and multi-factor coupled scenarios. The results show that the proposed PIDNN consistently outperforms conventional physics-based models and several representative data-driven methods, including SVM, LSTM, and GAN-based approaches. It achieves lower prediction errors across all evaluated conditions, as reflected by reduced mean absolute error and root mean square error. By providing physically consistent predictions of capacity fade, internal resistance growth, and remaining useful life, the proposed framework supports degradation-aware monitoring and early warning for intelligent battery management systems. These findings provide a robust methodological basis for improving the reliability, safety, and service life of UAV power systems operating in complex climatic environments. Full article

This study proposes a novel state of health (SOH) estimation method by extracting two-level hierarchical features linked to fundamental degradation mechanisms. At the module level, the length of the incremental power curve during constant current charging is extracted, capturing cumulative effects of subtle changes. At the cell level, a combined temperature-weighted voltage inconsistency curve is constructed. The state of charge (SOC) at its distinct knee point within the high-SOC range is a key indicator, signifying the accelerated failure stage where polarization and thermoelectric feedback intensify. This knee-point SOC quantitatively reflects the degree of SOH degradation, making it a valid feature for accurate SOH estimation. The proposed Temporal Convolutional Network–Transformer–Squeeze-and-Excitation (TCN–Transformer–SE) model assigns weights to these features via Squeeze-and-Excitation (SE) and uses Temporal Convolutional Network (TCN) and Transformer branches for parallel local and global temporal decisions. Aging experiments demonstrate the method’s superiority through multi-feature comparison, ablation studies, and benchmark evaluation, achieving a maximum mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.0031, a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.0038, a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.9937 and a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 0.3820. The work provides a fusion estimation framework with enhanced interpretability grounded in electrochemical analysis. Full article

The growing demand for lithium-ion batteries, along with the imperative for sustainable and cost-efficient production, necessitates the exploration of innovative technological approaches. Among the most energy-intensive steps in battery manufacturing is the electrode drying process. This study examined the impact of rapid laser-based drying on critical quality parameters of anode electrodes. A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) was employed, enabling precise and independent control of the power distribution. By applying various intensity profiles, the influence of laser power modulation on electrode drying behaviour and resulting quality was systematically investigated. The outcomes were compared to both conventional convection drying and laser drying at constant power. The objective was to assess the viability of profile-controlled laser drying as a stand-alone alternative and to identify its benefits and limitations with regard to electrode quality and process efficiency. Full article

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) can considerably improve their lifespan by optimising operating conditions. This may entail ensuring optimal operating temperature, limiting the state-of-charge (SoC) window, reducing cycling current, and changing the physical orientation of the uncompressed LIB cell. In this study, we examine how these four conditions and some of their combinations impact degradation in both 1st life as well as in second life. The cell analysed in this investigation was the Xalt 31 HE cell, an energy-optimised Li-ion pouch cell with a capacity of 31 Ah and an NMC433-graphite chemistry. As a follow-up study of previously reported results, a total of 18 cells were investigated. We report results focusing on improving cycle life and ensuring safety before second life. The optimal conditions for first-life cycling in the full SoC window were found at room temperature, when cycled with a lower current and the cells oriented horizontally. We observed that under the same cycling conditions, a vertical alignment of cells resulted in an increased degradation rate compared to horizontal alignment. The best second-life capacity retention was found for cells initially cycled at room temperature, then later cycled with a reduced SoC window, at a lower current and in a horizontal orientation. If the cells were cycled at an elevated temperature in first life, the second-life compatibility was reduced considerably. An incremental capacity analysis (ICA) of the first-life ageing data revealed a possible indicator for ensuring safety and cycleability into second-life use. Full article

The development of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) capable of extreme fast charging (XFC) while preserving safety, durability, and practical energy density remains a central challenge for next-generation electric transportation and grid-scale storage. Conventional graphite anodes are fundamentally limited at high current densities by sluggish intercalation kinetics, which cause lithium plating, motivating the exploration of alternative insertion materials. This review provides a comprehensive and internally consistent assessment of titanium-based oxide anodes, encompassing TiO₂ polymorphs, lithium titanate (Li₄Ti₅O₁₂), and Wadsley–Roth titanium niobium oxides, through the combined lenses of crystal topology, diffusion pathways, redox chemistry, interfacial behavior, and resource scalability. By systematically comparing structural frameworks and electrochemical mechanisms across these material classes, we demonstrate that fast-charging performance is governed not by nano-structuring alone, but by the intrinsic coupling between operating potential, framework rigidity, and multi-electron redox activity. While Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ establishes the benchmark for safety and cyclability, and TiO₂ polymorphs provide structural versatility, titanium niobium oxides uniquely reconcile high theoretical capacity with minimal lithiation strain and open diffusion channels, positioning them as highly promising candidates for sub-10 min charging without catastrophic degradation. This review highlights the persistent obstacles these materials suffer, such as limited round-trip energy efficiency (RTE), interfacial gas evolution, poor dopant stability, and unsustainable extraction, while simultaneously exploring targeted design strategies to overcome them. Finally, this review provides a materials design and comparison framework for the development of safe, high-power, and commercially viable ultrafast-charging LIBs. Full article

This project investigates how the orientation of the carbon cathode with a single-sided microporous layer (MPL) affects battery performance through electrochemical tests, neutron tomography, and titration experiments. The titration experiment quantitatively assesses the amount of solid product (Li₂O₂) deposited on the electrode surface. In addition, neutron imaging with a 16 µm voxel resolution provides details on the spatial distribution of the solid product within the porous electrodes. Additionally, the performance impact of two electrolyte solvents, tetra ethylene glycol dimethyl ether (TEGDME) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), is evaluated when used to soak the carbon cathode. The cathode orientation where the MPL faces toward the electrolyte and separator reaches higher discharge and charge capacities and greater average discharge voltages compared to when the MPL faces away from the separator. Batteries discharged with DMSO as the solvent have a 64.86% decrease on average in discharge capacity compared to batteries using TEGDME as the solvent. Both the titration experiments and neutron imaging confirmed that the amount of solid products exhibits a linear correlation with the discharged capacity. Additionally, electrolytes with a high donor number, such as DMSO, were found to result in a smaller amount of Li₂O₂ deposited on the electrode surface. Full article

Hazardous compounds from used batteries pose a great threat to the environment. To prevent pollution and to recover critical materials from battery waste, efficient recycling is required. Until now, battery recycling has focused on the recovery of valuable metals from cathode materials, while organic fractions have often been neglected due to their low material value. New approaches to battery recycling are therefore necessary, where recycling methods based on supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO₂) extraction show great potential. In this work, a SC-CO₂ method was implemented to extract electrolyte solvents for the purification and recovery of a separator waste material (SWM) sorted out from lithium-ion battery (LIB)-based black mass. In addition, two other separation routes (ultrasonic washing and thermal treatment) were used for comparison. Based on the results from the three routes, mass balances revealed the gravimetric composition of the SWM, which includes separator, electrolyte, and electrode powder. The composition of electrolyte solvents was determined via Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy analysis. Furthermore, the polymeric separator was analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Thermogravimetric Analysis, and Differential Scanning Calorimetry analysis to evaluate the effects of SC-CO₂ extraction on the physicochemical properties. The recovery of electrolyte by the SC-CO₂ route is more efficient than the others, with extraction yields of 162 mg of electrolyte per gram of SWM. Moreover, no changes are observed in the analyzed properties of the polymeric separator material due to the SC-CO₂ extraction. Thus, the SC-CO₂ process proves to be a promising method for an efficient and sustainable recycling of electrolyte solvent and purifying of separator material from LIB waste. Full article