This “magic” material that melts like dessert is exactly what EVS lost

The paradox in environmentally friendly electric cars is the mountain load of the electronic waste it produces. To date, most of the targeted efforts to recycle EV batteries have been expensive and chemical toxic – and they are Not. This can change soon thanks to a promising penetration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

in Nature’s chemistry A paper published on August 28, researchers describe a new type of self -assembly that easily dissolves in organic solvents. It works reasonably like electrolyte in the solid-state battery cell-the main design of EV are race to Running. The researchers said that the process does not require harsh chemical and thermal conditions that make the EV battery recycling very difficult, providing promising opportunities to recycle the batteries on a large scale.

Yukio Chu, the lead author of the study and a physical scientist in Stanford, said, said Stanford, News of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “The battery design for recycling from the beginning is a new approach.”

Actual magic origins

The source of the “first recycling” approach came from Mashhad in Harry PotterZhu said, as Professor Dumbdor is magically repairing an old house with a click of his hand.

To repeat this type of magic in EV batteries, Chu and his colleagues took a closer look at the functions of each battery component. They found that the most difficult part – the most founding – was the electricity dissolved, which transmits lithium ions between positive cathode and negative anode. It is also logical Very flammable And degeneration in toxic waste that is difficult to manage.

For the “magic” electrolyte, chose the team Aramid amphiphiles (AAS), a category of particles that combine autonomy in water, and are surprising, mimic chemical composition and Kivlar stability. Then they tied Polyethylene glycol (PEG), which runs lithium ions, to one end of each molecule.

When the team revealed this water molecular system, they found that it was self-assembled in the Nanorbon structure capable of carrying ions across its surface-e-electrolyte.

Can magic materials make a magic battery?

The next step was to ensure that this substance could work reasonably within the real batteries. To test its creation, the team first conducted the experiments that were exposed to the materials of stress involved in building and operating a battery. Nanoribbons has gone through this quality examination with flying colors.

Next, they built a solid condition battery cell using common materials for actual batteries: lithium iron phosphate for cathode and lithium titanium oxide for the Anto. Of course, the dissolved with electricity was built from the new magic materials of the team.

This test produced mixed results. While Nanoripnes succeeded in closing lithium ions between the electrodes, the ions sometimes stored during charging and fast -paced discharge, the researchers said.

Zhou recalls that putting a mark on this stage for more investigation, then dropping the battery cell into an organic solvent, as it was solved like “cotton candy” in the water.

Magic cannot be resolved

“We do not want to say that we analyzed all the problems with this article,” Zhu admitted. He said that proving the concept showed promising results, but the performance of the battery was much lower than the industry standards.

However, what researchers imagine this article – in the near future – is the electrolyte that merges this material, perhaps in a layer or two, and not necessarily the entire battery. Zhou explained that a small portion of the battery made of these materials can easily start the recycling process.

High risks. EV sales climbing. The famous lithium supplies no. If the EV industry is associated with this article, it may open new chances for recycling lithium waste on a large scale. But the team will have to prove that investment is really worth doing – the better.

Correction: Mention of a previous version of this article is incorrectly that the negative pole of the battery cell was a “pole”, when he should have said “Anode”.