French scientists solve paradox about lithium
batteries
PARIS — Researchers from the French National Center for Scientific
Research (CNRS) and the CEA-Liten, the Laboratory for Innovation in New
Energy Technologies and Nanomaterials, said they can explain why lithium
iron phosphate, to be used in future lithium batteries, conducts
electricity despite being an insulating material. Their conclusions bring
fresh perspectives in the search for improved battery electrode materials
and a better understanding of how future hybrid and electric car batteries
will work.
Lithium iron phosphate is the best candidate to be used in lithium batteries for future electric and hybrid cars. Environmentally friendly, this material combines low cost and good thermal stability. However, it does not present the ionic and electrical conduction properties to make the electrode work. CNRS chemists from the Institute of Condensed Matter Chemistry of Bordeaux claimed they have solved this paradox. As they were studying the lithium iron phosphate, in collaboration with a team from CEA-Liten, researchers said they observed that the battery's charge-discharge cycles were made possible via a "domino cascade process". This phenomenon, they continued, occurs as soon as stresses are present at the interface between the discharging material and the material in the discharged state. Electrical and ionic conduction is then "extremely rapid" in the interfacial zone, propagating from one spot to the next like dominos as the interface moves, researchers concluded. Copyright © 2008 TechInsights, a Division of United Business Media LLC., EETimes EU Copyright All rights reserved. |