最新開発のリチウム空気電池「リチウムイオン電池装置」

According to foreign media reports, researchers have designed a new lithium battery that may have five times more power than current lithium batteries. The design uses lithium to react with oxygen extracted from the air to reduce the weight of the lithium battery. It may be used in mobile phones, laptops and electric vehicles in the future, and may even extend the cruising range of electric vehicles.

The research team was led by Amin Salehi-Khojin of the University of Illinois and Larry Curtiss of Argonne National Laboratory. The team came up with a number of design ideas aimed at limiting chemical reactions within the battery, allowing its lithium-air battery prototype to successfully charge and discharge 700 times.(Lithium - Ion Battery Equipment)

This battery is covered with a thin lithium carbonate and amorphous carbon coating on the battery anode. This structure helps the flow of lithium ions while blocking larger oxygen molecules and carbon dioxide. The research team also developed a new electrolyte, which used an ionic solution called 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazole tetrafluoroborate and dimethylsulfoxide.

The key to this lithium-air battery is its cathode, a negatively charged electrode that allows electrons to enter the battery and pull oxygen out of the air. After the metal edge and ionic solution in the electrolyte are combined, a catalyst is synthesized to react lithium with oxygen to generate lithium peroxide.

The catalyst suppresses other reactions, such as the formation of lithium oxide, as much as possible. This reaction process is unavoidable, and lithium oxide can react with carbon dioxide, nitrogen or water in the air, affecting battery performance.