Gerbrand Ceder

Development of Low-Cost, Safe, Earth-Abundant Cathode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries

The transition to clean energy requires cost-effective energy storage to address the intermittency of renewable power sources and support the electrification of transportation and industry. However, the dominant energy storage technology, lithium-ion batteries, currently rely on Ni- and Co-based cathode materials, which are expensive, environmentally damaging to produce, and introduce safety risks due to poor thermal stability. As such, there is a clear market demand for alternative high-performance cathodes. Manganese-rich disordered rock-salt (DRX) cathode materials offer a compelling alternative, with high energy density, low precursor cost, earth-abundant metals, and good safety characteristics. Since their discovery by the Ceder group in 2014, these materials’ performance has been substantially improved. A recent variation, δ-DRX, has now achieved good cycle life, practical electrode densities, and improved rate capability. However, their production has not yet been demonstrated at large scale. Recent work in the team highlights new opportunities for synthesizing (sub)micron-sized, single-crystalline material using a molten flux approach in air in under 3 minutes. Synthesizing δ-DRX under ambient air with short processing times enables high production throughput, low energy costs, and lower capital cost than Ni/Co-based materials. Since rapid heating and cooling is unconventional in the battery world, they plan to scale this synthesis to evaluate its use for δ-DRX. Larger-scale production will advance the technology readiness level (TRL) of these materials, enable faster synthesis parameter optimization, and allow critical large-format battery cell testing. Upon successful demonstration, PI Ceder and graduate student Tucker Holstun plan to commercialize δ- DRX via a startup company.