Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2022 - 27

Power & Energy
Technique Heals Dendrites in Solid-State Batteries
The method enhances the battery's safety while it is being used, without opening the battery cell.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
S
cientists successfully demonstrated
a technique to heal dendrites that
formed in a solid electrolyte (SE), resolving
an issue that can hamper the performance
of high energy-density, solid-state
batteries. Lithium metal anodes in batteries
tend to form dendrites - tree-like
metallic microstructures that can appear
during charging, causing capacity loss
and in some cases, a short circuit.
The scientists removed dendrites in a
ceramic, garnet-based solid electrolyte
using a nondestructive electrochemical
pulse method. Garnet oxides are a
promising material family for solid-state
batteries (SSBs). The lithium metal
preferentially oxidized from the dendrites
at very low current density and
completely disappeared. The dendrite
detection and healing methods discussed
here are crucial for extending
the life of SSBs.
Researchers used an electrochemical process to heal dendrites that formed in a ceramic, garnet-based
catalyst designed for a solid-state lithium battery. (Photo: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy)
Portable, Renewable Energy Technology
Pyroelectric energy generates energy from heat that would otherwise be wasted in a catalytic
chemical reaction.
University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, and Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD
W
hen pyroelectric materials are heated,
their polarization changes, leading
to an electron flow that generates energy.
These materials are commonly used
in household devices like motion sensor
lights, which detect body heat to determine
when someone is near.
Anytime there is a catalytic reaction,
heat is generated. These devices harness
that heat and use it as energy; for
example, a combustion engine in a car
produces heat that, with this kind of
technology, could be used to power the
electrical functions of the car that otherwise
rely on battery power.
The technology developed in this
work is portable and has an extended
lifetime. It uses on-chip combustion of
methanol, a high-energy fuel, to harness
energy from the reaction. The pyroelecTech
Briefs, April 2022
The method has the potential to rejuvenate
a battery's performance and
enhance its safety while it is being used,
without opening the battery cell. Next,
the team will test more electrolyte materials
and create a scaled-up prototype
battery using the new method.
For more information, contact Stephanie
G. Seay at seaysg@ornl.gov; 865-576-9894.
A scanning electron microscope image of the nanostructured Iridium oxide, colored to represent the
catalytic combustion. (Photo: Army Research Lab)
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Tech Briefs Magazine - April 2022

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