{"668513":{"#nid":"668513","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Aluminum Materials Show Promising Performance for Safer, Cheaper, More Powerful Batteries ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EA good battery needs two things: high energy density to power devices, and stability, so it can be safely and reliably recharged thousands of times. For the past three decades, lithium-ion batteries have reigned supreme \u2014 proving their performance in smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EBut battery researchers have begun to approach the limits of lithium-ion. As next-generation long-range vehicles and electric aircraft start to arrive on the market, the search for safer, cheaper, and more powerful battery systems that can outperform lithium-ion is ramping up.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EA team of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, led by \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/mcdowell-1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EMatthew McDowell\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, associate professor in the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E and the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESchool of Materials Science and Engineering\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, is using aluminum foil to create batteries with higher energy density and greater stability. The team\u2019s new battery system, \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-023-39685-x\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Edetailed in \u003Cem\u003ENature Communications\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, could enable electric vehicles to run longer on a single charge and would be cheaper to manufacture \u2014 all while having a positive impact on the environment. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cWe are always looking for batteries with higher energy density, which would enable electric vehicles to drive for longer distances on a charge,\u201d McDowell said. \u201cIt\u2019s interesting that we can use aluminum as a battery material, because it\u2019s cost-effective, highly recyclable, and easy to work with.\u201d \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe idea of making batteries with aluminum isn\u2019t new. Researchers investigated its potential in the 1970s, but it didn\u2019t work well.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EWhen used in a conventional lithium-ion battery, aluminum fractures and fails within a few charge-discharge cycles, due to expansion and contraction as lithium travels in and out of the material. Developers concluded that aluminum wasn\u2019t a viable battery material, and the idea was largely abandoned. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENow, solid-state batteries have entered the picture. While lithium-ion batteries contain a flammable liquid that can lead to fires, solid-state batteries contain a solid material that\u0027s not flammable and, therefore, likely safer. Solid-state batteries also enable the integration of new high-performance active materials, as shown in this research.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe project began as a collaboration between the Georgia Tech team and Novelis, a leading manufacturer of aluminum and the world\u2019s largest aluminum recycler, as part of the Novelis Innovation Hub at Georgia Tech. The research team knew that aluminum would have energy, cost, and manufacturing benefits when used as a material in the battery\u2019s anode \u2014 the negatively charged side of the battery that stores lithium to create energy \u2014 but pure aluminum foils were failing rapidly when tested in batteries. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe team decided to take a different approach. Instead of using pure aluminum in the foils, they added small amounts of other materials to the aluminum to create foils with particular \u201cmicrostructures,\u201d or arrangements of different materials. They tested over 100 different materials to understand how they would behave in batteries. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cWe needed to incorporate a material that would address aluminum\u2019s fundamental issues as a battery anode,\u201d said Yuhgene Liu, a Ph.D. student in McDowell\u2019s lab and first author on the paper. \u201cOur new aluminum foil anode demonstrated markedly improved performance and stability when implemented in solid-state batteries, as opposed to conventional lithium-ion batteries.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe team observed that the aluminum anode could store more lithium than conventional anode materials, and therefore more energy. In the end, they had created high energy density batteries that could potentially outperform lithium-ion batteries.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cOne of the benefits of our aluminum anode that we\u0027re excited about is that it enables performance improvements, but it also can be very cost-effective,\u201d McDowell said. \u201cOn top of that, when using a foil directly as a battery component, we actually remove a lot of the manufacturing steps that would normally be required to produce a battery material.\u201d \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EShort-range electric aircraft are in development by several companies, but the limiting factor is batteries. Today\u2019s batteries do not hold enough energy to power aircraft to fly distances greater than 150 miles or so. New battery chemistries are needed, and the McDowell team\u2019s aluminum anode batteries could open the door to more powerful battery technologies. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThe initial success of these aluminum foil anodes presents a new direction for discovering other potential battery materials,\u201d Liu said. \u0022This hopefully opens pathways for reimagining a more energy-optimized and cost-effective battery cell architecture.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe team is currently working to scale up the size of the batteries to understand how size influences the aluminum\u2019s behavior. The group is also actively exploring other materials and microstructures with the goal of creating very cheap foils for battery systems.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThis is a story about a material that was known about for a long time, but was largely abandoned early on in battery development,\u201d McDowell said. \u201cBut with new knowledge, combined with a new technology \u2014 the solid-state battery \u2014 we\u0027ve figured out how we can rejuvenate the idea and achieve really promising performance.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFunding\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E: Support is acknowledged from Novelis, Inc. M.T.M. acknowledges support from a Sloan Research Fellowship in Chemistry from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. This work was performed in part at the Georgia Tech Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology, a member of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI), which is supported by the National Science Foundation (ECCS-2025462).\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECitation\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E: Liu, Y., Wang, C., Yoon, S.G. et al. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-023-39685-x\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAluminum foil negative electrodes with multiphase microstructure for all-solid-state Li-ion batteries\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E. \u003Cem\u003ENat Commun\u003C\/em\u003E 14, 3975 (2023). \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EDOI\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E: \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-023-39685-x\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-023-39685-x\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EWriter\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E: Catherine Barzler\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPhotography\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E: Rob Felt\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EA team of researchers\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eis using aluminum foil to create batteries with higher energy density and greater stability. The team\u2019s new battery system\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ecould enable electric vehicles to run longer on a single charge and would be cheaper to manufacture \u2014 all while having a positive impact on the environment. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The team\u2019s new battery system could enable electric vehicles to run longer on a single charge and would be cheaper to manufacture \u2014 all while having a positive impact on the environment. "}],"uid":"36123","created_gmt":"2023-07-19 15:30:30","changed_gmt":"2023-07-26 14:46:00","author":"Catherine Barzler","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-07-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-07-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"671185":{"id":"671185","type":"image","title":"McDowell battery 1","body":"\u003Cp\u003EGraduate student researcher Yuhgene Liu holds an aluminum material for solid-state batteries.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1689780689","gmt_created":"2023-07-19 15:31:29","changed":"1689784211","gmt_changed":"2023-07-19 16:30:11","alt":"A scientist in a white lab coat wearing blue gloves holds a strip of aluminum foil.","file":{"fid":"254199","name":"23-R5001-P10-002 (1).jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/07\/19\/23-R5001-P10-002%20%281%29.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/07\/19\/23-R5001-P10-002%20%281%29.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4588624,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/07\/19\/23-R5001-P10-002%20%281%29.jpg?itok=LS2qfMXo"}},"671190":{"id":"671190","type":"image","title":"McDowell batteries 4","body":"\u003Cp\u003EPh.D. student Yuhgene Liu, associate professor Matthew McDowell, and postdoctoral researcher Congcheng Wang in McDowell\u0027s lab at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1689790150","gmt_created":"2023-07-19 18:09:10","changed":"1689791011","gmt_changed":"2023-07-19 18:23:31","alt":"Three scientists in goggles stand in a lab. Two in lab coats hold thin strips of aluminum foil. ","file":{"fid":"254205","name":"23-R5001-P10-001.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/07\/19\/23-R5001-P10-001.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/07\/19\/23-R5001-P10-001.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1903425,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/07\/19\/23-R5001-P10-001.jpg?itok=gJPgkfdh"}},"671187":{"id":"671187","type":"image","title":"McDowell batteries 3","body":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EA solid-state battery built in McDowell\u2019s laboratory.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1689781866","gmt_created":"2023-07-19 15:51:06","changed":"1689781866","gmt_changed":"2023-07-19 15:51:06","alt":"A close-up image of a small, rectangular package in metal casing with the text \u0022McDowell Lab\u0022 and a graphic of a battery. ","file":{"fid":"254201","name":"23-R5001-P10-005.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/07\/19\/23-R5001-P10-005.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/07\/19\/23-R5001-P10-005.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3188888,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/07\/19\/23-R5001-P10-005.jpg?itok=TESD5fnA"}},"671186":{"id":"671186","type":"image","title":"McDowell batteries 2","body":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPostdoctoral researcher Congcheng Wang builds a battery cell.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1689781601","gmt_created":"2023-07-19 15:46:41","changed":"1689784302","gmt_changed":"2023-07-19 16:31:42","alt":"A scientist in a white lab coat uses protective equipment and rubber gloves to build a battery cell","file":{"fid":"254200","name":"23-R5001-P10-007 (1).jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/07\/19\/23-R5001-P10-007%20%281%29.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/07\/19\/23-R5001-P10-007%20%281%29.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":5758395,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/07\/19\/23-R5001-P10-007%20%281%29.jpg?itok=qwCeC1PL"}}},"media_ids":["671185","671190","671187","671186"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/mcdowell-lab-georgia-tech-shaping-future-battery-technology","title":"The McDowell Lab at Georgia Tech is Shaping the Future of Battery Technology"}],"groups":[{"id":"217141","name":"Georgia Tech Materials Institute"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"186870","name":"go-imat"},{"id":"186858","name":"go-sei"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECatherine Barzler, Senior Research Writer\/Editor\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:catherine.barzler@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ecatherine.barzler@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}