A team of scientists at Kyoto University, Japan has developed a novel, ultrahigh capacity cathode for fluoride-ion all-solid-state batteries. They hope that this new material could assist next-gen fluoride-ion batteries replace current lithium-ion chemistry. This alternative technology is still in the early stages of development though, according to Wikipedia.
The Ultrahigh Capacity of Fluoride-Ion Batteries
Fluoride-Ion batteries use fluorine ions as their charge carriers, instead of lithium and sodium for example. Their theoretical capacity is double that of lithium-ion, but only on paper in theory to date. However, the Kyoto researchers, in tandem with Toyota, claim to have actually achieved this remarkable goal.
The Best Max website explains how the novel Kyoto battery deploys copper nitride in the cathode. Although the Japanese scientists also added manganese and lanthanum to their perovskite crystal.
Science Japan confirms that these materials react to positively charged nitrogen, which then forms an anion. They believe that ‘this is the first report in the world on a super-ceramic cathode material, utilizing the valence change in nitrogen, which is a negative ion’.
More Information About Fluoride-Ion Batteries in General
The remainder of the JACS report goes largely over our heads, and we suggest you consult the document we link to below, for more technical information. However, what we do know is that German scientists first proposed fluoride-ion shuttling, back in 1974.
At that time, the technology required temperatures of 400 to 500 °C, which was impractical. Then, in 1976, another researcher achieved an open-circuit voltage close to the theoretical maximum, but failed to sustain a current when they applied a load.
Fluoride-ion technology largely vanished from the public eye until 2010, when those supporting the energy transition called for new storage devices. Time will tell whether the Kyoto ultrahigh capacity cathode for fluoride-ion will be one of those, or whether it too will just be of passing interest.
More Information
Sodium-Fluoride Battery Electrolyte For Li-Ion
Fluoride-Ion Could See Lithium Batteries Off
