A battery anode receives electrons from a cathode during discharging, and receives a similar supply back during recharging. Until quite recently, we supposed an anode was an essential component of any solid-state battery. Although we might have been more correct to say that its function was essential. That’s because anode-free solid-state batteries are on the way.
Anode-Free Solid-State Batteries Could Be Coming Soon
Scientists at Princeton University have come up with what seems like a rather good idea. Instead of plating and de-plating a lithium-ion battery anode, they ask, why not do this at the current collector instead?
In terms of this approach, the Princeton lithium-ion battery prototype has several unique features:
- The electrolyte in the battery is solid, not liquid. This means it can store more energy in less space, and perform well at a wider temperature range.
- The battery does not have an anode. Ions flow from the cathode directly to the current collector, where the anode would have been, and then back.
- The ions plate directly on the current collector on the ‘anode side’. In so doing, they form a reversible thin metal layer as the battery charges.
There are several major benefits that accrue from removing the anode, and having an anode-free solid-state battery.
Major Benefits from Anode-Free Solid-State Batteries
Omitting the anode by eliminating the lithium foil, would make the battery cheaper to manufacture. But it would also make the anode-free battery more compact, reducing transport costs and allowing for smaller devices.
This modification would also eliminate the time-consuming manufacturing step, of producing the specialized lithium-metal foil.
“If you could assemble a battery without a lithium metal anode, you would greatly cut costs while leveraging existing manufacturing processes,” the research team believes. “Both of these advantages are key, if you want to make a dent in the battery market.”
More Information
Anode-Free Metal Batteries – Back to Basics
Anodes and Cathodes and Their Roles
