Issue 6
Week 4-10 February 2019
Welcome to the third edition of our Last Week In Batteries digest!
This weekly digest of developments in the battery space is intended as a demonstration of what one can do with Avogadro One. Avogadro One allows capturing relevant news easily and quickly, saving you valuable time. If you want to know when you can use Avogadro One for your own research, please sign up to our mailing list here. We would also be happy to hear any feedback.
This is a very basic review of last week's events relevant to the battery and fuel cell industries. We do not pretend to be experts in this space but as investors we find such an overview helpful. The digest is intentionally very brief and dry and is intended as a demonstration rather as an end product. We'd love to hear what tools/software/platforms you use to stay abreast of the events in your industries of interest: please answer our anonymous questionnaire.
Coating materials for better Mg battery electrodes
A team of scientists from several US and Singapore universities has studied an array of magnesium materials as candidates for protecting electrodes in magnesium batteries. Their research has identified "Mg-halides and Mg(BH4)2 as promising anode coating materials based on their significant reductive stability." For cathodes they note MgF2, Mg(PO3)2 and MgP4O11.
Impact areas: Mg battery performance and durability
Source: https://arxiv.org/abs/1902.01925
Stable electrode for fuel cells
Researchers from DGIST have developed a new electrode for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). It includes a 'double perovskite structure' and embedded nickel catalyst, and exploits the effect of exsolution. The researchers report that the new electrode improves "the stability and performance of fuel cell at the same time."
Impact areas: Fuel cell durability and performance
Source: https://www.dgist.ac.kr/en/html/sub06/060202.html?mode=V&no=cddb4c62b29e418e6a203bc7393143cd
Charging algorithm for lithium-ion batteries
A research team from the University of Pavia have designed a model to manage series-connected lithium-ion cells "for balancing-aware optimal charging." Their simulations "have shown the ability of the presented algorithm to rapidly achieve state of charge balancing while guaranteeing safety and battery health-related constraints"
Impact areas: Li-ion battery safety and durability
Source: https://arxiv.org/abs/1902.02122
Degradation of lithium-rich batteries explained
Researchers from Stanford University and the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have published a paper in which they explain why lithium-rich batteries degrade over time. Understanding this process should help scientists come up with new solutions to this problem, which, in turn, could double the capacity of lithium batteries.
Impact areas: Lithium battery capacity
Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-02-untangling-strange-phenomenon-lithium-ion-battery.html
Fast and precise battery simulation model
Engineers from Oxford University have developed a new lead-acid battery simulation model that offers a compromise between the computationally expensive but more precise electrochemical model and the faster but less informative equivalent-circuit model. More accurate and less expensive simulations can help speed up battery research and design, as well as improve battery management methods.
Impact areas: Battery research and management
Source: https://arxiv.org/abs/1902.01774
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