Newly developed lithium iron oxide rechargeable batteries in the United States

　　According to foreign media reports, researchers from Argonne National Laboratory and the Wolverton team of Northwestern University in the United States have cooperated to develop lithium iron oxide rechargeable batteries (lithium ion iron oxide batteries). , Rechargeable lithium-iron-oxide battery). Compared with common lithium-cobalt-oxide batteries (lithium-cobalt-oxide counterparts), their lithium-ion movement is larger. This is due to their larger capacity, which extends the battery life of electric vehicles. .

　　According to foreign media reports, researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory have cooperated with the Wolverton team of Northwestern University in the United States to jointly develop lithium iron oxide rechargeable batteries (lithium ion iron oxide batteries, rechargeable lithium batteries). -iron-oxidebattery). Compared with the common lithium cobalt oxide battery (lithium-cobalt-oxide counterpart), its lithium-ion movement is larger. This is due to its larger capacity, which extends the battery life of electric vehicles.

　　This research was supported by the EnergyFrontier Research Center project under the US Department of Energy, and published its research results in "Nature Energy". Doctoral student ZhenpengYao and Argonne Laboratory in Wolferton Laboratory Postdoctoral researcher ChunZhan is the first author of the research paper. Wolferton and Yao are responsible for computational research and development, and the Argonne laboratory is responsible for the experimental part of the research.

　　During the charging and discharging process of the battery, lithium ions will reciprocate between the anode and the cathode. When the battery is charged, lithium ions return to the anode and are stored there. The cathode of the battery is made of composite, which contains lithium ions, transition metal (transition metal) and oxygen.

　　Usually, the transition metal is cobalt. When lithium ions move back and forth from the anode and cathode, it can store and release electrical energy efficiently. The capacitance of the cathode is limited by the number of electrons in the transition metal, and the former will participate in the chemical reaction in the battery.

　　Lithium cobalt oxide batteries have been sold on the market for 20 years. However, after frequent long-term research, researchers have found another relatively cheap rechargeable battery with higher power. The research team of Wolverton Laboratory improves its performance on the basis of ordinary lithium cobalt oxide batteries, mainly using the following two new strategies: replacing cobalt with iron and forcing oxygen to participate in chemical reactions.

　　If oxygen can be stored and electrical energy can be released, battery power will naturally increase, and more lithium ions can be stored and utilized. Although other research teams have done similar studies, there are few successful ones.

　　Through numerical calculations, Wolferton and Yao discovered a new formula, and the chemical reaction of the formula is reversible. First, the research team replaced cobalt with iron, because iron is the cheapest metal element in the chemical periodic table. Later, through calculations, they discovered the correct balance of lithium, iron and oxygen ions, so that oxygen ions and iron ions can simultaneously promote a reversible reaction without causing oxygen to escape.

　　More importantly, the battery has 4 lithium ions at the beginning instead of one, which will increase the battery capacity. Iron and oxygen will drive the battery to react and realize the reciprocating movement of four lithium ions between the battery anode and cathode.

　　Wolverton applied for a patent for this. The team will then use other compounds to try to see if the strategy still works.