The Next Chinese Lithium Batteries All Solid, All Lithium, Cathode???
The Next Chinese Lithium Batteries All Solid, All Lithium, Cathode???
The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology issued its 2021 Five-Year National Key R&D Program Guidelines.
The guidelines identify key future battery technologies based on solid state electrolytes (SSE) and lithium metal anodes. The guidelines do not include new cathode materials except sulphur, leading us to conclude traditional cathode materials will continue to dominate. We also noticed the absence of silicon anodes or composite anodes.
Of the 18 key special projects included, three are related to lithium-ion batteries.
- New Energy Vehicles
- Energy Storage and Smart Grid Technology
- High-end Functions and Smart Materials
New Energy Vehicles
Research program: Interfacial self-repair, Ion-Transport, Lithium plating, High conductivity ultra-thin solid electrolytes.
New Energy Vehicles- Battery Pack safety
Improve battery pack low temperature performance, research heating methods, develop fast heating, effects on battery safety and lifetime.
Relationship between battery performance and alternating stresses such as vehicle vibration, ambient temperature, dynamic load, etc;
Battery System fault diagnosis, safety assessment and early warning methods; Thermal runaway, expansion paths, thermal runaway delay, mitigation by blocking
Program goals
- Temperature rise time﹣30℃-0℃ ≤ 3min, energy consumption ≤5%;
- Temperature difference ≤5℃ (﹣30℃~0℃)
- Non-destructive heating cycle life ≥300 times
- Battery fault recognition rate ≥95%,
- Internal shorts accuracy ≥90%
- No fire or explosion within 90 minutes of thermal event
- No fire or explosion at 200 kN pressure
Energy Storage and Smart Grid Technology
Medium & long term storage
Energy storage applications use energy cells whose specifications and requirements differ to the power automotive cells discussed above.
GWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system technology
Develop new lithium-ion technology suitable for gigawatt-hour applications.
Grid-scale energy storage technology, high energy efficiency, wide temperature range, long life, high energy conversion efficiency, Low-cost, high-voltage, Integrated fire safety, high-efficiency cooling and heat management, intelligent management system
MWh Intrinsically safe solid-state lithium-ion energy storage
Cell and system design of energy-type solid-state batteries, zero tolerance for No thermal runaway system.
Energy storage requirements, safe low resistance stable solid-state electrolytes. Develop in modules and high efficient storage systems. Failure analysis, online detection prediction and early warning
Metal sulphur-based energy storage batteries
Intrinsically safe, low-cost and long-life metal anode sulfur-based energy storage battery. Lithium and sodium anodes amongst other metals are the choice for sulphur systems. Metal sulphur batteries provide a good alternative to resource dependent lithium batteries while reducing costs.
High specific capacity, high surface capacity metal or alloy anode, intrinsically safe, Liquid or solid electrolyte, Design low-cost large-scale preparation technology.
High-end Functions and Smart Materials
High energy density metal lithium-based secondary battery
Develop low cost, safe environmentally friendly lithium-based composite anode compatible with solid electrolytes and high-capacity cathodes.
Target Industry- New energy vehicles, Smart grids
Summary
The future of the Chinese battery industry is based on solid state batteries and time to market is much sooner than expected. Interesting that SSE batteries will also be applied to grid storage, and not just electric vehicles.
