The glass battery is a type of
solid-state battery
A solid-state battery is a battery technology that uses solid electrodes and a solid electrolyte, instead of the liquid or polymer gel electrolytes found in lithium-ion or lithium polymer batteries.
While solid electrolytes were first discovered ...
. It uses a
glass
Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...
electrolyte and
lithium
Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid ...
or
sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable iso ...
metal
electrodes
An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum or air). Electrodes are essential parts of batteries that can consist of a variety of materials dep ...
.
The battery was invented by
John B. Goodenough, inventor of the
lithium cobalt oxide
Lithium cobalt oxide, sometimes called lithium cobaltateA. L. Emelina, M. A. Bykov, M. L. Kovba, B. M. Senyavin, E. V. Golubina (2011), "Thermochemical properties of lithium cobaltate". ''Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry'', volume 85, issue ...
and
lithium iron phosphate
Lithium iron phosphate or lithium ferro-phosphate (LFP) is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a gray, red-grey, brown or black solid that is insoluble in water. The material has attracted attention as a component of lithium iron phosp ...
electrode materials used in the
lithium-ion battery
A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also s ...
(Li-ion), and
Maria H. Braga, an associate professor at the
University of Porto and a senior research fellow at
Cockrell School of Engineering
The Cockrell School of Engineering is one of the eighteen colleges within the University of Texas at Austin. It has more than 8,000 students enrolled in eleven undergraduate and thirteen graduate programs. The college is ranked 10th in the world a ...
at
The University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
.
The paper describing the battery was published in ''
Energy & Environmental Science
''Energy & Environmental Science'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing original (primary) research and review articles. The journal covers work of an interdisciplinary nature in the biochemical and biophysical sciences and c ...
'' in December 2016;
a number of follow-up works have also been published since.
Hydro-Québec is researching the battery for possible production.
Glass Electrolyte Research
In September 2016 Iowa State University was granted U.S. $1.6 million to develop new lithium-ion-conducting glassy solid electrolytes.
In August 2019, it was announced that
GM was awarded U.S. $2 million by the
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...
for research into the "fundamental understanding of interfacial phenomena in solid-state batteries" and "hot pressing of reinforced all-solid-state batteries with sulfide glass electrolyte."
Skepticism
The initial publication in December 2016 was met with considerable skepticism by other researchers in battery technology, with several noting that it is unclear how a battery voltage is obtained given that pure metallic lithium or sodium exists on ''both'' electrodes, which should not produce a difference in
electrochemical potential
In electrochemistry, the electrochemical potential (ECP), ', is a thermodynamic measure of chemical potential that does not omit the energy contribution of electrostatics. Electrochemical potential is expressed in the unit of J/ mol.
Introductio ...
, and therefore give no
cell voltage.
Any energy stored or released by the battery would therefore violate the
first law of thermodynamics
The first law of thermodynamics is a formulation of the law of conservation of energy, adapted for thermodynamic processes. It distinguishes in principle two forms of energy transfer, heat and thermodynamic work for a system of a constant amou ...
. Goodenough's high reputation was enough to deter the strongest criticism however, with Daniel Steingart of
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
commenting, "If anyone but Goodenough published this, I would be, well, it's hard to find a polite word."
A formal comment was published by Steingart and Venkat Viswanathan from
Carnegie Mellon University in ''Energy & Environmental Science''.
Goodenough responded to the skepticism, stating: "The answer is that if the lithium plated on the
cathode
A cathode is the electrode from which a conventional current leaves a polarized electrical device. This definition can be recalled by using the mnemonic ''CCD'' for ''Cathode Current Departs''. A conventional current describes the direction in wh ...
current collector is thin enough for its reaction with the current collector to have its
Fermi energy
The Fermi energy is a concept in quantum mechanics usually referring to the energy difference between the highest and lowest occupied single-particle states in a quantum system of non-interacting fermions at absolute zero temperature.
In a Fermi ga ...
lowered to that of the current collector, the Fermi energy of the lithium
anode
An anode is an electrode of a polarized electrical device through which conventional current enters the device. This contrasts with a cathode, an electrode of the device through which conventional current leaves the device. A common mnemonic ...
is higher than that of the thin lithium plated on the cathode current collector." Goodenough went on to say in a later interview with ''
Slashdot
''Slashdot'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''/.'') is a social news website that originally advertised itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters". It features news stories concerning science, technology, and politics that are submitted and eval ...
'' that the lithium plated on the cathode is on the "order of a
micron
The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Un ...
thick".
Goodenough's response has drawn further skepticism from Daniel Steingart and also Matthew Lacey of
Uppsala University
Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...
, who point out that this
underpotential deposition
Underpotential deposition (UPD), in electrochemistry, is a phenomenon of electrodeposition of a species (typically reduction of a metal cation to a solid metal) at a potential less negative than the equilibrium ( Nernst) potential for the reduc ...
effect is only known for extremely thin layers (
monolayers) of materials. Lacey also notes that the original publication does not mention a limit to the thickness of the lithium plated on the cathode, but instead states the opposite: that the capacity of the cell is "determined by the amount of alkali metal used as the anode".
Construction and electrochemistry
The battery, as reported in the original publication,
is constructed using an alkali metal (
lithium
Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid ...
or
sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable iso ...
foil) as the negative electrode (anode), and a mixture of
carbon
Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent
In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an element is the measure of its combining capacity with o ...
and a redox active component, as the positive electrode (cathode). The cathode mixture is coated onto
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
foil. The redox active component is either
sulfur
Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
,
ferrocene
Ferrocene is an organometallic compound with the formula . The molecule is a complex consisting of two cyclopentadienyl rings bound to a central iron atom. It is an orange solid with a camphor-like odor, that sublimes above room temperature, a ...
, or
manganese dioxide. The electrolyte is a highly
conductive
In physics and electrical engineering, a conductor is an object or type of material that allows the flow of charge (electric current) in one or more directions. Materials made of metal are common electrical conductors. Electric current is gene ...
glass
Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...
formed from
lithium hydroxide
Lithium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula LiOH. It can exist as anhydrous or hydrated, and both forms are white hygroscopic solids. They are soluble in water and slightly soluble in ethanol. Both are available commercially. While ...
and
lithium chloride
Lithium chloride is a chemical compound with the formula Li Cl. The salt is a typical ionic compound (with certain covalent characteristics), although the small size of the Li+ ion gives rise to properties not seen for other alkali metal chlorid ...
and
doped with
barium, allowing fast charging of the battery without the formation of metal
dendrites
Dendrites (from Greek δένδρον ''déndron'', "tree"), also dendrons, are branched protoplasmic extensions of a nerve cell that propagate the electrochemical stimulation received from other neural cells to the cell body, or soma, of the ...
.
The publication states the battery operates during discharge by stripping the alkali metal from the anode and re-depositing it at the cathode, with the battery voltage determined by the redox active component and the
capacity of the battery determined by the amount of the alkali metal anode. This operating mechanism is radically different from the insertion (
intercalation) mechanism of most conventional Li-ion battery materials.
In 2018, a new version was described by most of the same authors in the ''
Journal of the American Chemical Society
The ''Journal of the American Chemical Society'' is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1879 by the American Chemical Society. The journal has absorbed two other publications in its history, the ''Journal of Analytic ...
'', in which the cathode is coated with a special plasticiser solution to avoid interface cracking as different materials expand at different rates. Braga says the new battery has twice the energy density of conventional lithium ion batteries, and can be recharged 23,000 times.
Critics pointed out several extraordinary claims in the paper, such as a record-high
relative dielectric constant; perhaps higher than any material recorded, and a raise in the capacitance of the battery over many charge cycles, rather than a decrease as is usually the case with all other battery technologies.
The paper was also not clear if the battery could hold its charge after it is unplugged, which would clarify whether it is really a new battery technology, or simply a capacitor.
Braga responded to critics, saying "Data is data, and we have similar data from many different cells, in four different instruments, different labs, glove box. And at the end of the day, the LEDs are lit for days with a very small amount of active material after having cycled for more than 23,000 times".
Comparison with lithium-ion batteries
Braga and Goodenough stated they expect the battery to have an energy density many times higher than current lithium-ion batteries, as well as an operating temperature range down to ; much lower than current solid-state batteries.
The electrolyte is also stated to have a wide
electrochemical window. The battery's design is safer than lithium-ion batteries, as the use of a flammable liquid electrolyte is avoided.
The battery can also be made using low-cost sodium instead of lithium.
The authors claim the battery has a much shorter charging time than Li-ion batteries—in minutes rather than hours. The authors also state they tested the stability of the alkali metal/electrolyte interface over 1,200 charge cycles with low cell resistance;
the specification for Li-ion batteries is usually less than a thousand.
[Mark Anderson]
"Will a New Glass Battery Accelerate the End of Oil?"
''IEEE Spectrum
''IEEE Spectrum'' is a magazine edited by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
The first issue of ''IEEE Spectrum'' was published in January 1964 as a successor to ''Electrical Engineering''. The magazine contains peer-reviewe ...
'', 3 March 2017
See also
*
List of battery types
This list is a summary of notable electric battery types composed of one or more electrochemical cells. Three lists are provided in the table. The primary (non-rechargeable) and secondary (rechargeable) cell lists are lists of battery chemistry. ...
References
{{reflist
Metal-ion batteries
Solid-state batteries