Laying the Groundwork for Longer Battery Life

Batteries with Long Life – Interact with Technology

Some of the common complaints regarding cell phone or the laptop are regarding the battery life which tends to turn off when needed the most. We are inclined to rely on technology which is an integral part of our life and find it difficult to do anything without it.

 We would find it extremely difficult to cope up with our life even for a short period of time without our cell phone which tends to connect us with the external world. The faculty from Drexel’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering have discovered this topic in a latest invited article in Nature Energy – `Perspective’. Batteries having long life and tend to charge instantly could change how we interact with our technology.

Anne Steven Assistant Professor Ekaterina Pomerantseva together with Distinguished University and Charles T. as well as Ruth M. Bach Chair Professor Yury Gogotsi suggested that the next generation batteries have been developed by combining different two-dimensional 2D materials in heterostructured electrodes and would immensely enhance battery life and charge storage potentials, thus changing the technology setting. The term `2D’ materials is utilised in describing materials which tend to be developed in single layer, like a sheet of paper which is only one or many atoms thick.

2D Heterostuctured Electrodes

These exceptional materials have started portraying amazing potentials for different properties which could be applied to a wide selection of applications. The most frequently known 2D materials are said to be graphene together with various graphene modification, transition metal dischalcogenides – TMDCs, transition metal oxides –TMOs together with transition metal carbide/nitrides – MXenes.

Individually, these material families tend to display definite benefits for energy storage applications though simultaneously tend to have some shortcomings. Pomerantseva had commented that they suggest that in order to eradicate the shortcomings while maintaining most of the benefits of these opposing 2D materials is in creating what is known as 2D heterostructed electrodes composed of interchanging layers of various 2D materials which tend to portray various functionalities.

The single layer structure of 2D materials is for the most part valuable for the purpose of energy storage properties since these thin materials tend to have a great surface range that enables quick diffusion of ions from an electrolyte, which is a liquid utilised in transporting ions between two electrodes. This quick movement of ions on the surface permits a battery to charge immediately. Besides this the 2D material also makes provision for a denser packing of ions between the layers that leads to the battery stocking the charge for a longer period.

Contrary Chemical Reaction

Though there is an opportunity that the solvent utilised in the electrolyte tends to have the possibility of causing a contrary chemical reaction with the electrode in the battery resulting in reduced battery performance, the ability of 2D materials for enhanced battery performance tends to outweigh the potential challenges.

In order to build these 2D heterostructures a parallel orientation or interface of layers of various 2D materials is essential. Gogotsi has informed that the interface of materials in this way tends to optimize their unique properties. For instance, on combining various layers of TTMO together with graphene, a high capacity of oxide as well as high electronic conductivity of carbon could be attained in the resulting 2D heterostructure which could lead to a battery having high energy together with high power.

There is a possibility of modifying the 2D heterostructures still further by integrating different types of inorganic ions, organic molecules and also polymers, which are known as species between the layers. This integration of these interlayer species could lead to various developments in electrochemical properties. The interlayer species could extend the interlayer spacing enabling additional electrochemically cycling ions in being incorporated between the layers which could lead to a higher capacity which in turn could lead to energy density of the batteries.

Insertion/Extraction

Moreover due to the interactions between the layers as well as the interlayer species, the structural stability of the electrodes through multiple cycles of ions is said to go through insertions and extraction which can be enhanced. Should the interlayer species be charged, their presence between the layers could disturb the diffusion of electrochemically cycled ion inclusive of the acceleration of the diffusion that tends to lead to batteries with better power.

Utilising 2D heterostructured electrodes with suitably selected interlayer species seem to have abundant promise in developing a battery which would not only charge quickly but also hold an individual charge for a longer period and will also tend to last longer over several charge and discharge cycles.

 Pomerantseva had informed that if such a battery is utilised in powering a car, it would be capable of greater driving range before the need of a re-charge, and the re-charge process would take a short duration of time. Moreover the owner of the car would possibly desire to buy a new car well before the light indicating that the battery required to be replaced is illuminated.