Search for the perfect battery
Like the pursuit of the Holy Grail, the search for a perfect battery cell has been a long one.
But Simon Fraser University physicist Dr. Jeff Dahn remains undeterred. He focuses his investigations on the materials used in the electrodes of battery cells.
The ideal battery cell would be inexpensive, compact, lightweight and infinitely rechargeable. It would be capable of storing energy efficiently, then releasing it on demand. With this kind of technology, electric cars would probably become a practical alternative to gasoline-powered vehicles.
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From 1985 to 1990, Dahn worked for a B.C. company called Moli Energy. Moli had been established to commercialize a new, rechargeable battery invented, in part, in the UBC physics department. The Moli battery cell unfortunately contained a serious flaw that only appeared following years of testing. After several dozen cycles, some cells – 10 out of the two million then in use – developed a tendency to vent gas or flame.
As a result, in 1989, the cell was taken off the market and Moli Energy went into receivership. But the story was far from over. Japanese interests bought the failed company and reconstituted it as Moli Energy (1990) Ltd. Meanwhile, Dahn and his colleagues at Moli Energy had developed an alternative and safe cell that uses different compounds.
In 1990, Dahn joined SFU’s physics department, where he and his colleagues continue their intensive research into battery materials. Moli is investigating the use of aqueous electrolytes – electrolytes in which water is the sole solvent.
The matter of aqueous and non-aqueous electrolytes cuts right to the heart of the problem of producing lightweight rechargeable, lithium batteries. When lithium comes into contact with water, whether in a battery cell or elsewhere, it usually produces lithium hydroxide and hydrogen – and a violent chemical reaction.
In the current generation of lithium-ion cells, lithium is tied up with carbon and water is not present. But ensuring that no water gets into a battery cell makes them expensive. Furthermore, non-aqueous electrolytes don’t match the conductive performance of aqueous ones.
Dahn believes Wu Li, a former SFU physics student, may have found a way to use aqueous electrolytes with the lithium-containing electrode. Li discovered if you bind the lithium tightly to something like a transition metal oxide, it won’t react with water.
Li, now with Sheritt Inc., Dahn and D.S. Wainwright of Moli Energy, published some of their findings last year in the journal Science. Together with Moli, they have also filed for worldwide patents.
– Simon Fraser University
System ‘nurses’ seeds and soil
Ontario vegetable farmers are getting wind of a new growing method that protects seeds from blowing away and reduces soil erosion.
University of Guelph horticultural science professor Vince Souza-Machado, researcher Ahmed Ali and graduate student Doug Marlow have discovered that planting barley beside vegetables prevents the seeds – and the soil – from being swept away by Ontario dust storms. The barley “nurse” crop cuts seed losses by 80 percent.
The dead barley also serves as a rich mulch for the soil, supplying it with valuable organic matter.
“This strategy has a vital role in soil conservation,” says Souza-Machado. “Wind erosion removes soil from the marshlands … We are using a relatively simple method to prevent soil erosion so that we don’t lose our fertile soils for future generations.”
– University of Guelph
