18650 lithium battery energy density increased by 2-3 times.

18650 lithium battery energy density increased by 2-3 times.

Recently, three of the world's top battery experts from Argonne National Laboratory in the United States and Northwestern University published a paper discussing the development history of chemical energy storage batteries and predicting the development prospects of lithium batteries. They believe that it is possible to increase the energy density of lithium batteries by 2-3 times in the future, and the key is to innovate battery materials.

These three scientists are: Michael M. Thackeray, Senior Scientist at the Electrochemical Energy Storage Department of Argonne National Laboratory; Eric Isaacs, Director, Nanomaterials Expert and Physicist at Argonne National Laboratory; and Christopher Wolverton, Professor at the Department of Materials Science at Northwestern University. Their related paper has been published in the seventh issue of the Journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2024.

At present, 18650 lithium batteries have been widely used in the digital field. However, due to factors such as insufficient range, safety, and short cycle life of power lithium batteries, they have been unable to be widely applied in the fields of electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage. In response to this, the above-mentioned experts pointed out in their paper that in order to promote the widespread use of lithium batteries in energy storage systems required for electric vehicles and smart grids, breakthrough innovations are still needed in the fields of materials and chemistry. They pointed out that it is very possible to increase the energy density of lithium batteries by 2-3 times in the future, but it is necessary to find a battery material with superior performance.

At the end of the paper, it is mentioned that a stable, non-volatile, and non liquid electrolyte should be developed in order to further improve the safety of batteries. In addition, the paper points out that achieving stable electrochemical characteristics, safety, and price of batteries under a wide voltage range are huge challenges in the future research and development of lithium-ion batteries.