[clug] IBM claims to have made a new battery design that is environment friendly

[steve jenkin]

it’s a Lithium-metal anode with a mixed organic solvent/liquid electrolyte (charge carrier) and unknown cathode.
Their expertise in catalysts is noted without explanation.

Aside from the usual decade from ‘invention’ to production and an expected 90+% failure rate of such announcements,
this is interesting.

[IBM had a run at Cold Fusion, but showed it didn’t work, at least not how Fleishman & Pons postulated.]
[IBM researchers also got Nobel prizes for High Temp Superconductors - which has led to few products]

Significantly, IBM is looking to become a major player in new batteries, either as a producer or licensing its patents.

They were clever in how they did the development as well - creating stable teams that are “high performing” is difficult.
Adding in new research techniques to augment their thinking & work methods is "other ‘level”.


> On 18 Jan 2020, at 20:12, George at Clug via linux <linux at lists.samba.org> wrote:
> 
> https://www.ibm.com/blogs/research/2019/12/heavy-metal-free-battery/


Facts from the article.

1. Three materials new to batteries are combined in a novel way.  Implies, ‘done patent searches’.
	No Cobalt, stated multiple times.
   	Implied not “Lithium-ion” - but we’ get hints later.

	"Using three new and different proprietary materials,
	 which have never before been recorded as being combined in a battery, 
	our team at IBM Research has discovered a chemistry for a new battery
	which does not use heavy metals or other substances with sourcing concerns."


2. Elements *could* be mined / extracted from seawater.
	Almost fact-free, but suggests Bromium, could be misdirect.
	Lithium & Sodium are both in ’sea salt’.
	Misdirect because of the high flame point organics.

	"The materials for this battery are able to be extracted from seawater”


3. "performance potential”,
	note the euphemistic “can be optimised”, could mean a lot.
	Later, says that cells can be optimised for high-discharge or longevity (implies low-discharge rates)

	"proved it can be optimized to surpass the capabilities
		 of lithium-ion batteries [i.e. not “lithium-ion”]
	 in a number of individual categories including [by how much, 1% or 50%?]
		lower costs, 
		faster charging time, 
		higher power and energy density, 
		strong energy efficiency and
		low flammability.”
			[vs some lithium-ion’s problematic “Halt and Catch Fire”]


4. Materials.
	Need an Anode, Cathode and electrolyte [ making it a liquid vs solid battery ]
	No information on working temperature ranges,
	or ability to be frozen (0 C) and survive.

	"cobalt and nickel-free cathode material,
	as well as a safe liquid electrolyte 			[safe means what? non-carcinogenic?]
	with a high flash point.”					[says an organic solvent(s) that also catches fire ]


5. It’s a "lithium - something" battery.

	“lithium metal as an anode material.”

	"an ability to suppress lithium metal dendrites during charging,"	[known problem with Li-metal ? probably.
														[  Zinc & Tin have this problem ]
	"thereby reducing flammability”							[ means “reduced internal short-circuits”]


6. High Discharge Applications
	Makes a clear distinction between cells config for high and low discharge rates.

	“when optimized for this factor”					[ battery config can be ’tuned’ for different Applications ]

	"which can scale a power load quickly,”				[ some batteries don’t do this ]
												[ common for cells to be bursty, recovery time needed]

	“five minutes are required for the battery  …  to reach an 80 percent state of charge”
												[ fast charge/discharge rates == ‘gets very hot’ ]
												[ internal power dissipation needs to be handled ]
												[ maybe getting hot decreases life ]


7. In Stationary Applications
	Can we infer that the cell can be High-Discharge with fewer cycles,
	or Low-Discharge, with longevity?

	" longevity and stability is key”	
	"our tests have shown this battery can be designed for a long-life cycle”


8. Low Internal Resistance (?) and Heat generation
	a. We don’t hear about the cell’s tolerance for, or reaction to, changes in external or operating temp.
	b. Is the <= 10% Round Trip Loss symmetric (charging vs discharging)?
	c. Power losses get converted into *heat*.
	d. Lithium-ion batts notorious for ’thermal runaway’ - get hot, discharge rate increases, get hotter.

	“Energy Efficiency: More than 90 percent"
	"(calculated from the ratio of the energy to discharge the battery over the energy to charge the battery).”


9. R&D and Commercial Partners

	"IBM Research has joined with”
	- Mercedes-Benz Research and Development North America
	- Central Glass: battery	 electrolyte suppliers
	- Sidus:				 battery manufacturer


10. State of Project - barely out of the Lab?

	"the larger development of this battery are still in the exploratory phase”


11. Research Team and Methods
	- multidisciplinary (means they went all out on this *and* solved ’team issues’ well enough)
	- used AI, machine learning *and* simulations
	- put their great collection of tools & techniques to use

	"AI technique called semantic enrichment (used) …
	 identifying safer and higher performance materials.”

	"machine learning … insights from millions of data points
	 to inform their hypothesis and next steps"
	
	"multidisciplinary approach combining
		materials science, 
		molecular chemistry,
		electrical engineering, 
		advanced battery lab equipment, and 
		computer simulation” 

	"we drew on IBM Research’s strong infrastructure
	 that allows us to study how
	 things work on a molecular and atomic level”		[ restating molecular chemistry ]

	"this materials innovation and expertise in catalysis”	[ unexpected reference ]

--
Steve Jenkin, IT Systems and Design 
0412 786 915 (+61 412 786 915)
PO Box 38, Kippax ACT 2615, AUSTRALIA

mailto:sjenkin at canb.auug.org.au http://members.tip.net.au/~sjenkin