Argonne's Lithium Titanium Oxide Spinel Anode System for High-Power Lithium-Ion
Batteries wins FLC Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer
Argonne has developed and transferred a nanophased lithium titanium oxide
(LTO) spinel anode system for use in high-power lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries
designed for hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) applications. The innovation includes
the novel anode material; system design features that permit the anode material
to work well with the commercially available lithium manganese oxide spinel (LMO)-based
cathode adopted by EnerDel, the Li-ion battery subsidiary of Ener1, Inc.the recipient
of the transferred technology; and a method for factory-scale manufacturing of
the material.
Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are becoming increasingly popular across the
world because of environmental concerns and the skyrocketing cost of
gasoline. To date, however, market growth has been impeded by the high
cost of the nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries used in powering these vehicles,
making HEVs uncompetitive with similar models of conventional vehicles. Lithium-ion
batteries are promising for future HEV applications because they are superior
to Ni-MH batteries in terms of energy and power output and are much cheaper.
However, Li-ion batteries have a serious safety issue: the possibility of explosions
or fires from thermal runaway when such batteries are abused or insufficiently
controlled. The relatively poor safety record of Li-ion batteries is due to the
use of graphite as the anode material.
All major suppliers
of Li-ion batteries for HEVs currently use graphite in their batteries except
for EnerDel, which uses
Argonne’s LTO spinel anode system. This innovation has enabled
EnerDel to market highly reliable and extremely safe HEV batteries that are smaller
in size and lighter in weight, provide more power and energy, and have a much
longer life than the Ni-MH batteries found in today’s HEVs.
The EnerDel batteries also outperform competing Li-ion batteries in safety, delivered
power, compactness, cold cranking, and low cost. Use of the new batteries will
encourage HEV sales by significantly reducing or eliminating the premium charged
for these vehicles and by allowing consumers to receive an immediate return on
their investment in terms of fuel cost savings, thus helping reduce America’s
dependence on foreign oil while slashing harmful emissions at the same time.
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