Issue Date: November 20, 2017
Solid-state batteries inch their way toward commercialization
Keywords: Energy storage, lithium ion batteries, solid-state batteries, electrolytes
Though still a nascent technology, solid-state batteries are hot right now. Among the most prominent proponents is Toyota, which aims to commercialize solid-state batteries for electric cars by 2022.
Other auto competitors are close on Toyota’s heels in the rush to satisfy government mandates for emission-free alternatives to gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles. BMW, for example, has also indicated a keen interest in developing solid-state batteries for their promise of better safety and higher energy density.
Today’s state-of-the-art batteries—those based on lithium-ion technology—have been honed to near perfection since they were introduced more than 25 years ago, but they are still heavy and occasionally explode and catch fire, as they did in Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 phones so spectacularly last year. By getting flammable liquid electrolytes out of lithium-ion batteries and replacing them with solid electrolytes, solid-state battery makers hope to usher in an era of safer, more compact, higher-capacity energy storage devices.
Yet some patience is advised. With a few exceptions, like the solid polymer electrolyte batteries from French transportation firm Bolloré Group, solid-state batteries are just starting to be commercialized, mostly for low-power sensors connected to the internet. Firms like Ilika, Front Edge Technology, and Cymbet are making the small batteries in modest numbers. But they acknowledge that it will be years before solid-state batteries begin to show up in large numbers in consumer electronics, phones, and cars.
Toyota’s enthusiasm aside, solid-state batteries are likely to remain niche players unless some major breakthrough occurs, says Lorenzo Grande, a technology analyst with the consulting firm IDTechEx. Lithium-ion battery sales will reach $100 billion worldwide by 2027, he projects, compared to just $7 billion for solid-state batteries.
“Batteries are by definition unstable systems, and any improvement in energy storage comes with safety issues,” says Grande, who studied battery science at the University of Münster. But batteries with solid-state electrolytes may be inherently safer because they are solvent free, he says.
The potentially greater margin of safety in solid-state batteries has caught the attention of some pretty big players. In 2013, Apple acquired solid-state battery developer Infinite Power Solutions. In 2015, the cordless vacuum cleaner maker Dyson bought Sakti3, a University of Michigan spin-off. Founder James Dyson recently said he would pour $2.7 billion into developing a car with solid-state batteries. Also in 2015, the auto components maker Bosch Group bought Seeo, whose solid-state technology was licensed from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Ilika, a materials research firm that has helped Toyota develop solid-state batteries, says the carmaker has been working on solid electrolyte technology for 10 years. “Toyota’s vision was to replace the flammable liquid electrolyte in a lithium-ion battery with a conductive ceramic material,” says Graeme Purdy, Ilika’s chief executive officer.
The firm, a spin-off from the University of Southampton, screened a number of materials using its high-throughput vapor deposition rig to assess solid electrolytes for Toyota. On its own, Ilika is harnessing the intellectual property it jointly owns with Toyota to make small solid-state batteries.
The batteries are intended to be combined with energy harvesters like solar cells to provide a constant energy source for small sensors used in the internet of things. Purdy says the company’s aim is to “get volume and grow in a niche where solid-state batteries can prove their capabilities.” Those capabilities include long life and the ability to operate in high-temperature and often hostile environments where lithium-ion batteries cannot.
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Neeraj Singla
Delhi, India
98180 22627
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