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reportFocus Report 2010: Nanotechnology in Battery
5.10 Focus Report - Battery: Executive Summary
From Alessandro Volta first Voltaic pile in 1800 to the next generation of lithium battery, this more or less little device used to convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy has faced several evolutions. They have gained popularity as they became portable and useful for a variety of purposes. In less than two centuries, we have had saline than alkaline primary non rechargeable batteries. This last type is now competing with secondary rechargeable batteries among which the most well-known for common users are NiCd, NiMH or Li-ion batteries. For now, the battery has become a common power source for many household and industrial applications. By far, Li-ion has the highest share of the dry cell rechargeable market. It is replacing NiMH which has replaced NiCd in most applications due to an increase from 100 to 150% of the storage capacity.
Therefore, most activities concerning batteries are dedicated to Li-ion technology. To widen the range of applications available for Li-ion batteries, some improvements have to be obtained. The main purpose of R&D on alternative systems is then to increase the energy or power density in order to enhance the performance of the batteries, to ensure high lifetime, mainly due to a good durability of the electrodes under repeated charge-discharge cycles and to reduce the size and weight of the systems.
Nanotechnologies offer promising innovations for these broad functional requirements. The increase of the power density could be obtained thanks to the nanostructuring of the battery electrodes (nanowires, nanotubes …). It increases indeed the contact surface between electrode and electrolyte and decreases the ions (Li+, H+) diffusion path inside active materials. These parameters have an influence on battery power density, which is a major key for applications like electric vehicles.
The improvement of the lifetime limited by the side reaction of materials could be obtained by using nanoarchitectured materials with external particle size at micro- or mesoscale while internally maintaining nanosized grains, such as nanotubes.
Nanotechnology offers also new process opportunities. The placing of materials under nanoparticles form could offer the possibilities to develop printing process to manufacture the battery.
On the market point of view, battery is a growing field. For instance, battery companies have received over $600 million in venture capital funding in 2009, compared with $478 million garnered for 2008. Lux Research predicted also that the energy storage market will grow to become a $60 billion industry by 2013.
Concerning portable devices, it has been evaluated that 1.1 billion mobile telephones were produced and sold and that shipments of 169.6 million portable PCs were recorded in 2009. As each system has required a battery, it is then understandable that the total market for portable device batteries (including mobile phones) at reach a level of 15 200 MWh/year.
The current value of grid-connected energy storage is estimated to be $365 million, growing to $2.5 billion by 2015. Cost reduction and increase of Li-Ion batteries energy density should lead them to take a greater share of this market, which was evaluated by Pike Research to be of 26% of the energy storage market by 2018.
Concerning transportation, the share of EV and HEV vehicles in the total automotive market is projected to be 6% in Europe in 2015, reaching 27% by 2020. And on a more general point of view, it has been estimated that 4.1 million xEVs (HEVs, PHEVs, EVs) will be on the road in 2015.
It gives then a good overview of the great number of batteries from different sizes that is and will be needed in the 10 next years. For now, this market is dominated by Asian firms even if Europe does have battery manufacturing and particularly firms working with Li-Ion battery technology.
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Tags: battery, positive electrode, negative electrode, electrolyte