Batteries: Modeling tomorrow's materials today

Microstructure simulations reveal strong influence of elastic deformations on charging behavior of layered oxides as cathode in sodium-ion batteries

02-May-2024 - What factors determine how quickly a battery can be charged? Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) are investigating this and other questions using computer-aided simulations. Microstructure models are helping to discover and investigate new electrode materials. For ...

Battery material for the sodium-ion revolution

02-Apr-2024 - Powerful, safe and environmentally friendly - sodium-ion batteries have many advantages over conventional batteries. As they do not contain any critical raw materials such as lithium or cobalt, they could also make applications such as stationary energy storage and electromobility much cheaper. ...

New Consortium Aims to Develop More Sustainable Sodium-based Batteries

Interesting for Stationary Storage, but also Cars

28-Feb-2024 - The batteries of the future must be both powerful and sustainable. A new joint project, coordinated by the University of Würzburg, aims to make sodium-ion batteries ready to fulfill for these requirements. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding the project with more than ...

Recovering instead of shredding: recycling batteries more efficiently

KIT researchers are working with industry to develop a more sustainable recycling process to recycle materials from lithium-ion batteries more effectively

30-Nov-2023 - The market for electric cars is growing rapidly and with it the demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIB). Their recycling is also an important component in the production cycle. Current processes break down the active battery materials into their molecular components - using large amounts of energy ...

Battery recycling: 70 percent of lithium recovered

Inexpensive and environmentally compatible mechanochemical recycling process developed

29-Mar-2023 - Recover up to 70 percent of lithium from battery waste without the need for corrosive chemicals, high temperatures, or prior sorting of materials: This is made possible by a recycling method developed at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) that combines mechanical processes and chemical ...

BASF and KIT join forces in public funded project to investigate opportunities of multilayered anodes for lithium-ion batteries

Knowledge transfer to foster coating technology in academia and to meet global customer demands

21-Oct-2021 - Electromobility is globally recognized as a decisive factor for achieving climate neutrality. High-performance lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles play a key role to reach these goals. BASF is a leading player in the battery materials market focusing on high-performance cathode active ...

Battery Production at Record Speed

06-Aug-2019 - With a new coating process, researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have produced electrodes for lithium-ion batteries at record speed. At the same time, the new process improves the quality of electrodes and reduces production costs. When producing electrodes for batteries, ...

Lithium and Cobalt might not suffice

With the increased significance of lithium-ion batteries, the pressure on the availabiltity of relevant ressources rises

16-Mar-2018 - Lithium and cobalt are fundamental components of present lithium-ion batteries. Analysis by researchers at the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU) of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) shows that the availability of both elements could become seriously critical. Cobalt-free battery ...

Solar power day and night

KIT controls fluctuation of renewable energies by using modern storage systems

14-Aug-2012 - Energy storage systems are one of the key technologies for the energy turnaround. With their help, the fluctuating supply of electricity based on photovoltaics and wind power can be stored until the time of consumption. At Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), several pilot plants of solar ...

Fluoride shuttle increases storage capacity

KIT researchers develop new concept for rechargeable batteries

26-Oct-2011 - KIT researchers have developed a new concept for rechargeable batteries. Based on a fluoride shuttle -- the transfer of fluoride anions between the electrodes -- it promises to enhance the storage capacity reached by lithium-ion batteries by several factors. Operational safety is also increased, ...