Higher Density Lithium-Ion Batteries for Hybrid Vehicle Use

Lithium ion batteries use cobalt for the positive electrode to achieve higher density. You can see a more detailed diagram here of a typical configuration along with a range of other materials used.

The key challenge is controlling thermal runaway when the separator material fails. That’s when the battery overheats. One solution is to add phosphate or other materials into the battery to help stabilize it.

For the hybrid vehicle application, Lithium-Ion is the current choice with research effort going into increasing the density of the battery so it lasts longer at a lower weight and size. Across the board, vendors are making higher density lithium-ion batteries including Hitachi, and Panasonic, to name a few.

There are other ways of improving Lithium-ion battery capability. In this paper, the authors use nanostructures to coat the cathode to increase the discharge factor of a battery. Another approach uses organic materials for the cathode instead of lithium metal oxides which makes the battery lighter and more environmentally friendly.

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Hall T.