Heraeus: New type of booster assists power battery to promote ion conduction to enhance energy ratio

With the release of the new subsidy regulations in 2018, reducing costs and increasing energy density have become the focus of power battery companies. However, in the actual application process, the conventional method is difficult to ensure the ideal cycle life while improving the energy density, and there is also the risk of thermal runaway.

So is there a material that can help improve battery energy density while ensuring safe, stable, and efficient cycling of the battery?

"From the conventional principle, to increase the energy density of the battery, it is necessary to increase the active material, but the more active material, the conductivity is problematic, and the help of the aid is needed." Heraeus Battery Technology Co., Ltd. Greater China Business In an exclusive interview with OF week's lithium grid, Keqin Li, vice president, said that the facilitator needs to break the limitations of traditional electronically assisted thinking.

However, the current promoters on the market are mainly electron-assisting agents. Whether it is super PE, CNT or the future so-called graphene materials, the main thing is to use electron-assisting agents. This method makes the electrons conduct, but the ions do not move, which greatly affects the conduction efficiency. It is a new idea to improve the conductivity of the lithium battery from the perspective of ion conduction.

Based on this understanding, Heraeus Battery Technology Co., Ltd. (hereafter referred to as "Herley") invented a synthetic carbon functional additive for the Porocarb series of lithium ion batteries. It is known that Porocarb synthetic carbon functional additive has a well-designed and well-defined internal porosity, which not only ensures the electronic connectivity in the electrode, but also improves the ionic conductivity.

Heraeus: New type of booster for energizing the battery to open the ion conduction porch to increase the energy ratio

What revolutionary effects will this synthetic ion-conducting synthetic carbon additive have on power batteries? The OF week Lithium Grid has an exclusive interview with Li Keqin, Vice President of Greater China Business of Heraeus Battery Technology, to unlock the secret behind the mysterious co-agent.

Another way to enhance ionic conductivity

How to break through the conventional ion conduction?

According to Keqin Li, the Porocarb series is a porous synthetic carbon powder tailored for the most demanding electrochemical applications, which requires the pore distribution to be designed to have good dynamic affinity.

"Our material is mainly ion-conducting, the general lithium ion will be larger, we make the synthetic carbon particles into porous particles, and our particles are small enough and even enough." Keqin Li uses tennis and For example, in basketball, a basketball can be found in a basket comparison with dozens of tennis balls. Tennis balls have more contact surfaces and more common contact surfaces.

In addition, the small particles also have an aperture inside, and the aperture is also uniform. Consistent granularity with a consistent pore size can cause free flow of ions, thereby enhancing the overall conductivity of the lithium battery.

In fact, from the structural point of view, Heraeus Porocarb series sets a benchmark for the new generation of battery electrode additives. Porocarb has a well-designed and well-defined internal porosity that not only ensures electronic connectivity within the electrode, but also increases ionic conductivity. Porous carbon powder helps build advanced electrochemical systems that meet the goals that today's standard carbon conductive agents cannot achieve.

Enabling power batteries to increase energy density

Enhancing the conductivity does not necessarily increase the energy density of the battery. Porocarb series of porous carbon powder as an additive does not have the chemical properties of pulling up the energy density. How does the energy density increase?

In almost all electrochemical systems, various measures to increase energy and power will limit ion and electron transfer. If you need to transfer ions (kinetics) and electronics quickly and efficiently, you need intelligent engineering and advanced material solutions.

In order to increase the energy density of the battery, it is necessary to minimize the inactive materials in the battery. Increasing the electrode thickness is one of the methods of reducing inactive materials (for example, current collectors), but this will further raise problems with bulk transfer and charge transport, and requires careful design of the pore distribution.

By adding Heraeus' Porocarb series, ion channel and electrolyte supply can be maintained with increased electrode areal density and increased compaction density. The interconnected pore network facilitates faster penetration of the electrode solution into most of the electrodes compared to electrodes containing typical conductive agents.

"Lithium ions can flow freely, which can greatly increase the proportion of active substances. On the other hand, it reduces the proportion of other promoters. From the whole, it objectively creates favorable conditions for improving the energy density of the battery." Keqin Li explained. The Porocarb series of synthetic carbon functional additives contribute to the improvement of battery performance and achieve the practical effect of increasing energy density by improving the structural changes inside the lithium battery.

The effect of this energization is also reflected in the cooperation with other materials. For example, the porous carbon is matched with the carbon nanotubes, and the carbon nanotubes are electronic materials. It is equivalent to wearing some lines in the middle of a hole with a hole. This line is a carbon nanotube. The combination of the two saves internal space and further enhances the conductivity.

This structural change has laid a solid foundation for enhancing the compaction density of lithium batteries. Compressing the electrodes in a conventional manner leaves many side effects, including effects on electrical conductivity and cycle life, but this structural change in turn enhances electrical conductivity and increases cycle life.

Porocarb Porous Carbon Powder helps build advanced electrochemical systems that meet the goals that today's standard carbon conductive agents cannot achieve. Even with increased electrode face density and increased compaction density, Porocarb maintains an open path within the electrode to ensure electrolyte supply and transport during filling and handling.

In the actual test, Heraeus's Porocarb synthetic carbon functional additive for lithium ion batteries exhibited the following excellent characteristics:

1. Increased electrode surface density and reduced inactive components, therefore, energy density per unit volume is also increased (+20%)

2. The conductivity of the ions is enhanced, so the current discharge capacity is also enhanced (+50%)

3. Accelerate the filling and formation speed of the electrolyte during the battery manufacturing process, so the processing cost is also reduced (-50%)

4. Two-electrode loading can reduce non-active materials by 20%

5. Uniform mass transfer and response speed help extend battery life

Heraeus helps China's power battery upgrade

Perhaps for many lithium battery industry insiders, Heraeus is a strange company. In fact, the technology group headquartered in Hanau, Germany, was founded in 1851 and is now a leading global family business.

By leveraging its materials and technology expertise, Heraeus is committed to creating high quality solutions that help them improve their long-term competitiveness. Heraeus' market is concentrated in important areas such as environmental protection, energy, health, automotive and industrial applications. Its product portfolio ranges from components to integrated materials systems for a wide range of applications in the steel, electronics, chemical, automotive and communications industries.

According to statistics, in fiscal 2016, Heraeus' total sales revenue reached 21.5 billion Euros, ranking it in the forefront of Fortune's "Top 500 World". The Greater China region is one of the most important markets for the Heraeus Group. The company has more than 40 years of experience in Greater China, with more than 2,600 employees and 20 companies.

"China has become the world's largest lithium battery manufacturing base, and China's power battery companies are growing faster than other countries." Keqin Li believes that Heraeus' choice of the Chinese market is mainly due to China's huge potential. The spirit of Chinese companies' innovation and the positive impact on performance has become the best soil for the performance of synthetic carbon functional additives like the Porocarb series.

It is understood that Heraeus's Porocarb series products have begun to receive favor from Chinese power battery manufacturers. The battery factories in Henan, Beijing and Sichuan are already in the trial process. Three companies' products have already begun to ship, and China's largest power battery manufacturer is trialing the commissioning phase.

Keqin Li said that Heraeus can provide all kinds of customized services according to customers' needs according to various grades of synthetic carbon, in order to meet different system requirements (for example: graphitization degree, particle size, surface treatment, etc.). To meet this demand, Heraeus has developed a new Porocarb Lion 210 series to meet this demand.

It is worth noting that Heraeus's Porocarb series of synthetic carbon functional additives will be unveiled at the 1GB122 and 1GB123 booths in Hall 1 of the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center during the CIBF exhibition on May 22-24. At the same time, at the technical forums on May 23 and May 24, Heraeus' technology executives will bring product discussions.

The page contains the contents of the machine translation.