Solid State Batteries

Context:

Car manufacturer Volkswagen plans to have production running for solid state batteries by 2025 via the partnership with Quantum cape.

About Solid State Batteries-

• A solid state battery uses solid electrolyte instead of the liquid or polymer gel electrolytes found in lithium-ion or lithium polymer batteries.
• They can provide potential solutions for many problems of liquid Li-ion battery, such as flammability, limited voltage, unstable solid-electrolyte interphase formation, poor cycling performance and strength.
• Quantum cape’s solid-state battery lithium metal with a solid electrolyte separating the two electrodes — is seen as an exceptionally bright prospect in an increasingly crowded space.
• The company’s use of a solid state separator technology eliminates the side reaction between the liquid electrolyte and the carbon/graphite in the anode of conventional lithium-ion cells.
• The energy density of lithium-ion cells used in today’s mobile phones and electric vehicles is nearly four times higher than that of older-generation nickel-cadmium batteries. 
• Lithium-ion batteries use aqueous electrolyte solutions, where ions transfer to and fro between the anode (negative electrode generally made of graphite) and cathode (positive electrode made of lithium), triggering the recharge and discharge of electrons.
• While lithium-ion batteries are seen as sufficiently efficient for phones and laptops, they still lack the range that would make EVs a viable alternative to internal combustion engines as lithium metal is extremely reactive. 
• The QuantumScape design is supposed to be ‘anode-free’ in that the battery is manufactured in a discharged state, and the negative electrode forms in situ on the first charge.
• The advantages of the solid-state battery technology include: 
• Higher cell energy density (by eliminating the carbon anode), lower charge time (by eliminating the need to have lithium diffuse into the carbon particles in conventional lithium-ion cells), ability to undertake more charging cycles and thereby a longer life, and improved safety.
• Lower cost could be a game-changer, given that at 30 percent of the total cost, battery expenses are a key driver of the vehicle costs.

About Li ion batteries:

1. The energy density of lithium-ion cells used in today’s mobile phones and electric vehicles is nearly four times higher than that of older-generation nickel-cadmium batteries.
2. Lithium-ion batteries use aqueous electrolyte solutions, where ions transfer to and fro between the anode (negative electrode generally made of graphite) and cathode (positive electrode made of lithium), triggering the recharge and discharge of electrons.
3. Despite improvements in technology over the last decade, issues such as long charging times and weak energy density persist.
4. While lithium-ion batteries are seen as sufficiently efficient for phones and laptops, they still lack the range that would make EVs a viable alternative to internal combustion engine.

Issues with Lithium-ion batteries

• One major issue is that lithium metal is extremely reactive.
• The main form of lithium corrosion are dendrites, which are branched lithium structures that grow out from the electrode and can potentially pierce through the separator and on to the other end, short-circuiting the cell.
• In current lithium-ion batteries, in which the electrolyte is a flammable liquid, dendrite formation can trigger a fire.
• A study by Deloitte showed the top three considerations for consumers buying an EV are price, reliability, and cost to charge. Lithium-ion battery costs are currently high, forcing customers to not buy EVs.

Some salient aspects of Solid State Batteries

1. According to researchers, a solid-state lithium-metal battery replaces the polymer separator used in conventional lithium-ion batteries with a solid-state separator.
2. The replacement of the separator enables the use of a lithium-metal anode in place of the traditional carbon/graphite anode.
3. The lithium metal anode is more energy-dense than conventional anodes, which allows the battery to store more energy in the same volume.
4. The battery design is supposed to be ‘anode-free’ in that the battery is manufactured in a discharged state, and the negative electrode forms in situ on the first charge.

Key advantages of Solid State Batteries

• The advantages of the solid-state battery technology include higher cell energy density (by eliminating the carbon anode), lower charge time (by eliminating the need to have lithium diffuse into the carbon particles in conventional lithium-ion cells).
• The ability to undertake more charging cycles and thereby a longer life, and improved safety.
• Lower cost could be a game-changer, given that at current 30 per cent of the total cost, battery expenses are a key driver of the vehicle costs.
• Researchers claim it is expecting a lower battery cost by 15-20% relative to the cost of lithium-ion batteries.

INDIA’S BATTERY PUSH

1. The Government of India is working on a blueprint for a project of around 4,000 MWh of grid-scale battery storage system at the regional load dispatch centres that control the country’s power grid, primarily to balance the vagaries of renewable generation.
2. Reliance Industries Limited has announced plans to set up an Energy Storage Giga factory; state-owned NTPC Ltd has floated a global tender for a grid-scale battery storage project.
3. The Ministry of Heavy Industries issued a request for proposal for setting up manufacturing facilities for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) battery storage in India.

Source: INDIAN EXPRESS

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