Battery Power - September/October 2011 - (Page 30)

research & develoPmeNt The Heat is On for Sodium-Manganese Oxide Rechargeable Batteries By adding the right amount of heat, researchers have developed a method that improves the electrical capacity and recharging lifetime of sodium ion rechargeable batteries, which could be a cheaper alternative for large-scale uses such as storing energy on the electrical grid. To connect solar and wind energy sources to the electrical grid, managers require batteries that can store large amounts of energy created at the source. Lithium ion rechargeable batteries perform well, but are too expensive for widespread use on the grid because many batteries will be needed, and they will likely need to be large. Sodium is the next best choice, but the sodium-sulfur batteries currently in use run at temperatures above 300°C, making them less energy efficient and safe than batteries that run at ambient temperatures. Battery developers want the best of both worlds; to use both inexpensive sodium and use the type of electrodes found in lithium rechargeables. A team of scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and visiting researchers from Wuhan University in Wuhan, China used nanomaterials to make electrodes that can work with sodium. The electrodes in lithium rechargeables that interest researchers are made of manganese oxide. The atoms in this metal oxide form many holes and tunnels that lithium ions travel through when batteries are being charged or are in use. The free movement of lithium ions allows the battery to hold electricity or release it in a current. But simply replacing the lithium ions with sodium ions is problematic since sodium ions are 70 percent bigger than lithium ions and don’t fit in the crevices as well. To find a way to make bigger holes in the manganese oxide, PNNL researchers went much smaller. They turned to nanomaterials (about a million times thinner than a dime) that have surprising properties due to their smallness. For example, the short distances that sodium ions have to travel in nanowires might make the manganese oxide a better electrode in ways unrelated to the size of the tunnels. The team mixed two different kinds of manganese oxide atomic building blocks, one whose atoms arrange themselves in pyramids, and another one whose atoms form an octahedron, a diamond-like structure from two pyramids stuck together at their bases. They expected the final material to have large S-shaped tunnels and smaller five-sided tunnels through which the ions could flow. After mixing, the team treated the materials with temperatures ranging from 450°C to 900°C, then examined the materials and tested which treatment worked best. Using a scanning electron microscope, the team found that different temperatures created material of different quality. Treating the manganese oxide at 750°C created the best crystals: too low of temperature and the crystals appeared flakey, too high of temperature and the crystals turned into larger flat plates. The PNNL-Wuhan team dipped the electrode material in The crystalline, uniform nanostructure of heat-treated manganese oxide provides pathways in which sodium ions can flow, improving the performance of the manganese oxide electrodes. Photo courtesy of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. electrolyte, the liquid containing sodium ions that will help the manganese oxide electrodes form a current. Then they charged and discharged the experimental battery cells repeatedly. The team measured peak capacity at 128 milliAmp hours per gram of electrode material as the experimental battery cell discharged. This result surpassed earlier ones taken by other researchers, one of which achieved peak capacity of 80 milliAmp hours per gram for electrodes made from manganese oxide but with a different production method. The researchers think the lower capacity is due to sodium ions causing structural changes in that manganese oxide that do not occur or occur less frequently in the heat-treated nano-sized material. Last, the team charged the experimental cell at different speeds to determine how quickly it could take up electricity. The team found that the faster they charged it, the less electricity it could hold. This suggested to the team that the speed with which sodium ions could diffuse into the manganese oxide limited the battery cell’s capacity. To compensate for the slow sodium ions, the researchers suggest in the future they make even smaller nanowires to speed up charging and discharging. Grid batteries need fast charging so they can collect as much newly made energy coming from renewable sources as possible. And they need to discharge fast when demands shoots up as consumers turn on their air conditioners and television sets, and plug in their electric vehicles at home. Such high performing batteries could take the heat off an already taxed electrical power grid. Reference Yuliang Cao, Lifen Xiao, Wei Wang, Daiwon Choi, Zimin Nie, Jianguo Yu, Laxmikant V. Saraf, Zhenguo Yang and Jun Liu, Reversible Sodium Ion Insertion in Single Crystalline Manganese Oxide Nanowires with Long Cycle Life, Advanced Materials, June 3, 2011, DOI 10.1002/adma.201100904 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.201100904). 30 Battery Power • September/October www.BatteryPowerOnline.com http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.201100904 http://www.BatteryPowerOnline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Battery Power - September/October 2011

Battery Power - September/October 2011
Contents
Portable Battery Market to Reach $30.5 Billion Worldwide by 2015, Forecasts Pike Research
Panasonic Introduces High Rate Li-Ion Cell
A Comprehensive Management Approach to Maximizing UPS Availability
The Evolution of Battery Monitoring: Impedance, Resistance, Conductance or Ohmic Value
The World of Alkaline Batteries
Nickel Zinc’s Powerful Future in Stationary Storage
Batteries
Components
ICs and Semiconductors
Charging & Testing
Power Supplies
Industry News
Marketplace
Calendar of Events
Research & Development

Battery Power - September/October 2011

https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_2017spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_2016winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_2016fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_2016summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_2016spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_2015winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_2015fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_2015summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_2015spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_2014fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_2014summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_2014spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_2014winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_20131112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_20130910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_20130708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_20130506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_20130304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_20130102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_20121112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_20120910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_20120506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_20120304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_20120102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_20111112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/webcom/batterypower_20110910
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com