• Ceramist
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.402-416
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• 2019

The development of next-generation secondary batteries, including lithium-ion batteries (LIB), requires performance enhancements such as high energy/high power density, low cost, long life, and excellent safety. The discovery of new materials with such requirements is a challenging and time-consuming process with great difficulty. To pursue this challenging endeavor, it is pivotal to understand the structure and interface of electrode materials in a multiscale level at the atomic, molecular, macro-scale during charging / discharging. In this regard, various advanced material characterization tools, including the first-principle calculation, high-resolution electron microscopy, and synchrotron-based X-ray techniques, have been actively employed to understand the charge storage- and degradation-mechanisms of various electrode materials. In this article, we introduce and review recent advances in in-situ synchrotron-based x-ray techniques to study electrode materials for LIBs during thermal degradation and charging/discharging. We show that the fundamental understanding of the structure and interface of the battery materials gained through these advanced in-situ investigations provides valuable insight into designing next-generation electrode materials with significantly improved performance in terms of high energy/high power density, low cost, long life, and excellent safety.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.208-212
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• 2022

In this paper, we report the effects of temperature on the deterioration of graphite-based negative electrodes during the longterm cycling of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). After cycling 75 Ah pouch-type LIB full cells at temperatures of 45℃ (45-Cell) and 25℃ (25-Cell) until their end of life, we expected to observe changes in the negative electrode according to the temperature. The thickness of the negative electrode of the cell was greater after cycling; that of the electrode of 45-Cell (144 ㎛) was greater than that of the electrode of 25-Cell (109 ㎛). Cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy analysis confirmed that by-products caused this increase in the thickness of the negative electrode. The by-products that formed on the surface of the negative electrode during cycling increased the surface resistance and decreased the electrical conductivity. Voltage profiles showed that the negative electrode of 25-Cell exhibited an 84.7% retention of the initial capacity, whereas that of 45-Cell showed only a 70.3% retention. The results of this study are expected to be relevant to future analyses of the deterioration characteristics of the negative electrode and battery deterioration mechanisms, and are also expected to provide basic data for advanced battery design.

• Clean Technology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.177-182
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• 2012

Mesoporous anatase $TiO_2$ nanoparticles have been synthesized by a hydrothermal method using a tri-block copolymer as a soft template. The resulting $TiO_2$ materials have a high specific surface area of $230\;m^2/g$, a predominant pore size of 6.8 nm and a pore volume of 0.404 mL/g. The electrochemical properties of mesoporous anatase $TiO_2$ for lithium ion battery (LIB) anode materials have been investigated by typical coin cell tests. The initial discharge capacity of these materials is 240 mAh/g, significantly higher than the theoretical capacity (175 mAh/g) of LTO ($Li_4Ti_5O_{12}$). Although the discharge capacity decreases with the C-rate increase, the mesoporous $TiO_2$ is very promising for LIB anode because the surface for the Li insertion is presented significantly with mesopores. Nitrogen doping has a certain effect to control the capacity decrease by improving the electron transport in $TiO_2$ framework.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.163-169
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• 2017

In order to investigate the electrochemical properties and the particle size effect of $LiNi_{1-x-y}Co_xAl_yO_2$ (x=0.15, y=0.045 or 0.05, NCA) for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), two commercial NCA cathode materials (NCA#1, NCA#2) were used as cathode materials for LIB. The average particle size of the NCA#1 which consisted of uniform spherical particles was found to be approximately $5m{\mu}$. NCA#2 consisted of particles with bimodal size distribution of approximately $5m{\mu}$ and $11m{\mu}$. From the results of charge-discharge performance test, a high initial discharge capacity of 197.0 mAh/g was obtained with NCA#2, which is a higher value than that with NCA#1. The cycle retentions of NCA#1 and NCA#2 up to 30 cycles were 92% and 94%, respectively.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.51-60
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• 2010

A study on the recovery of cobalt and lithium from Lithium Ion Battery(LIB) scraps has been carried out by a physical treatment - leaching - solvent extraction process. The cathode scraps of LIB in production were used as a material of this experiment. The best condition for recovering cobalt from the anode scraps was acquired in each process. The cathode scraps are dissolved in 2M sulfuric acid solution with hydrogen peroxide at $95^{\circ}C$, 700 rpm. The cobalt is concentrated from the leaching solution by means of a solvent extraction circuit with bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid(D2EHPA) and PC88A in kerosene, and then cobalt and lithium are recovered as cobalt hydroxide and lithium carbonate by precipitation technology. The purity of cobalt oxide powder was over 99.98% and the average particle size after milling was about 10 lim. The over all recoveries are over 95% for cobalt and lithium. The pilot test of mechanical separation was carried out for the recovery of cobalt from the scraps. The $Co_3O_4$ powder was made by the heat treatment of $Co(OH)_2$ and the average particle size was about 10 ${\mu}m$ after grinding. The recovery was over 99% for cobalt and lithium each other and the purity of cobalt oxide was over 99.98%.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.649-656
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• 2011

A model for the numerical simulation of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is developed for use in battery cell design, with a view to improving the performances of such batteries. The model uses Newman-type electrochemical and transfer $theories^{(1,2)}$ to describe the behavior of the lithium-ion cell, together with the Levenberg-Marquardt optimization scheme to estimate the performance or design parameters in nonlinear problems. The mathematical model can provide an insight into the mechanism of LIB behavior during the charging/discharging process, and can therefore help to predict cell performance. Furthermore, by means of least-squares fitting to experimental discharge curves measured at room temperature, we were able to obtain the values of transport and kinetic parameters that are usually difficult to measure. By comparing the calculated data with the life-test discharge curves (SB LiMotive cell), we found that the capacity fade is strongly dependent on the decrease in the reaction area of active materials in the anode and cathode, as well as on the electrolyte diffusivity.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.173-179
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• 2020

Electric vehicles (EVs) using lithium secondary batteries (LIBs) with excellent power and long-term cycle performance are gaining interest as the successors of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. However, there are few systematic researches for fast charging to satisfy customers' needs. In this study, we compare the degradation of LIB where its composition is LiNi_0.5Co_0.2Mn_0.3/Graphite with the constant current and constant power-charging method. The charging speed was set to 1C, 2C, 3C and 4C in the constant current mode and the value of constant power was calculated based on the energy at each charging speed. Therefore, by analyzing the battery degradation based on the same charging energy but different charging method; CP charging method can slow down the battery degradation at a high rate of 3C through the voltage curve, capacity retention and DC-IR. However, when the charging rate was increased by 4C or more, the deviation between the LIBs dominated the degradation than the charging method.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.60-67
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• 2019

A valuable metal recovery from waste resources such as spent rechargeable secondary batteries is of critical issues because of a sharp increase in the amount of waste resources. In this context, it is necessary to research not only recycling waste lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), but also reusing valuable metals (e.g., Li, Co, Ni, Mn etc.) recovered from waste LIBs. In particular, the lithium hydroxide ($LiOH{\cdot}xH_2O$), which is of precursors that can be prepared by the recovery of Li in waste LIBs, can be reused as a catalyst, a carbon dioxide absorbent, and again as a precursor for cathode materials of LIB. However, most studies of recycling the waste LIBs have been focused on the preparation of lithium carbonate with a recovery of Li. Herein, we show the preparation of high purity lithium hydroxide powder along with the precipitation process, and the systematic study to find an optimum condition is also carried out. The lithium carbonate, which is recovered from waste LIBs, was used as starting materials for synthesis of lithium hydroxide. The optimum precipitation conditions for the preparation of LiOH were found as follows: based on stirring, reaction temperature $90^{\circ}C$, reaction time 3 hr, precursor ratio 1:1. To synthesize uniform and high purity lithium hydroxide, 2-step precipitation process was additionally performed, and consequently, high purity $LiOH{\cdot}xH_2O$ powder was obtained.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2014

Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are the state-of-the-art technology among electrochemical energy storage and conversion cells, and are still considered the most attractive class of battery in the future due to their high specific energy density, high efficiency, and long cycle life. Rapid development of power-hungry commercial electronics and large-scale energy storage applications (e.g. off-peak electrical energy storage), however, requires novel anode materials that have higher energy densities to replace conventional graphite electrodes. Germanium (Ge) and silicon (Si) are thought to be ideal prospect candidates for next generation LIB anodes due to their extremely high theoretical energy capacities. For instance, Ge offers relatively lower volume change during cycling, better Li insertion/extraction kinetics, and higher electronic conductivity than Si. In this focused review, we briefly describe the basic concepts of LIBs and then look at the characteristics of ideal anode materials that can provide greatly improved electrochemical performance, including high capacity, better cycling behavior, and rate capability. We then discuss how, in the future, Ge anode materials (Ge and Ge oxides, Ge-carbon composites, and other Ge-based composites) could increase the capacity of today's Li batteries. In recent years, considerable efforts have been made to fulfill the requirements of excellent anode materials, especially using these materials at the nanoscale. This article shall serve as a handy reference, as well as starting point, for future research related to high capacity LIB anodes, especially based on semiconductor Ge and Si.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.79-86
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• 2019

Recently, the use of lithium ion battery(LIB) has increased. As a result, the price of lithium and the amount spent lithium on ion battery has increased. For this reason, research on recycling lithium in waste LIBs has been conducted1). In this study, the effect of roasting for the selective lithium leaching from the spent LIBs is studied. Chemical transformation is required for selective lithium leaching in NCM LiNi_xCo_yMn_zO₂) of the spent LIBs. The carbon in the waste EV cell powder reacts with the oxygen of the oxide at high temperature. After roasting at 550 ~ 850 ℃ in the Air/N₂ atmosphere, the chemical transformation is analysed by XRD. The heat treated powders are leached at a ratio of 1:10 in D.I water for ICP analysis. As a result of XRD analysis, Li₂CO₃ peak is observed at 700 ℃. After the heat treatment at 850 ℃, a peak of Li₂O was confirmed because Li₂CO₃ is decomposed into Li₂O and CO₂ over 723 ℃. The produced Li₂O reacted with Al at high temperature to form LiAlO₂, which does not leach in D.I water, leading to a decrease in lithium leaching ratio. As a result of lithium leaching in water after heat treatment, lithium leaching ratio was the highest after heat treatment at 700 ℃. After the solid-liquid separation, over 45 % of lithium leaching was confirmed by ICP analysis. After evaporation of the leached solution, peak of Li₂CO₃ was detected by XRD.