A team of researchers in China uses artificial intelligence to help breathe a new life in the old batteries of electric vehicles. The extension of the lifespan of the lithium -ion batteries used in electric vehicles would be a major boon to make electric vehicles more enduring and profitable, helping to reduce the demand for flirting lithium and slow down the flow of critical minerals – without mentioning minerals in discharges.
China -based scientists wanted to discover a molecule that could reinstall a dead cell with lithium ions, reconstructing its capacity. A battery of electric vehicles is considered dead when its capacity decreases below 80% of its original value. It is generally about eight to ten years after the manufacture of the battery. But by pumping lithium ions in a cell after reaching the end of your life cycle, the batteries could be brought back from the dead.
The question was what molecules could achieve this reinfusion. The possible combinations are enormous and would require a lot of time and resources to be tested in a laboratory. The researchers therefore decided to use artificial intelligence to understand it. “We did not know what types of molecules could do this work or what their chemical structures would be, so we used automatic learning to help us,” was recently “Chihao Zhao, which is part of the Fudan University research team quoted by Scientific American.
The artificial intelligence model has determined that three different molecules would meet all the requirements described by scientists. Among these three, the researchers determined that one was best suited – a salt called lithium trifluoromethanesulfinate (liso2cf3). In the study of researchers paperPublished in nature earlier this year, they describe how identified lithium salt could help break the traditional limitations of the battery life “by means of a Li supply strategy”.
“This implies adding an organic Li salt outside in an assembled cell, which breaks down during the formation of cells, releasing ligands and expelling organic ligands as gas,” continues the document. “This non -invasive and rapid process preserves the integrity of cells without requiring disassembly.”
The result is a lithium -ion battery capable of being recharged for 11,818 cycles while maintaining a capacity of 96% – an astonishing feat with the potential to increase the lifespan of the commercial batteries of electric vehicles in order of magnitude. “These systems have improved energy density, improved sustainability and cost reduction compared to conventional LIO batteries,” said the document.
Although research is extremely emerging, it could be disruptive for the electric vehicle sector if it is refined and scaling. Make the batteries of electric vehicles cheaper could have a major impact on what remains a prohibitive transition for many potential consumers. The battery alone represents approximately 40% of the cost of an electric vehicle. Make the batteries more profitable, effective and durable could therefore make a big difference in the EV markets.
In addition, he will offer a stay of the battery waste mounting problem. A mini-report The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) says that in 2040, the world will reach 20,500 kilotons of dead lithium-ion batteries, mainly from electric vehicles. But current battery recycling capacities are only about 350,000 tonnes per year, with concentrated capacities in China.
Scientists have turned to AI to also improve the recycling capacities of lithium-ion batteries, partly motivated by a desire to break China’s workforce in the sector. A Hong Kong startup uses artificial intelligence to refine a portable lithium-ion battery recycling system which uses a robot assisted pilot line to sort, shred and filter the desirable materials of used batteries. In particular, this system does not include batteries of electric vehicles, but could provide a launch ramp for similar systems focused on the growing EV waste problem.
By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com
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