2020 Virtual undergraduate Research symposium

DEVELOPING BATTERIES FOR EXTREME FAST CHARGING


PROJECT NUMBER: 67

AUTHOR: Jorgen Heilbron, Mechanical Engineering | MENTOR: Jason Porter, Mechanical Engineering

MENTOR: David Curran, Mechanical Engineering | MENTOR: Lydia Meyer, Mechanical Engineering

 

ABSTRACT

Lithium-ion batteries are increasingly used in many industries, especially in the automotive industry with the ongoing transition to electric vehicles. While electric vehicles are rapidly replacing internal combustion engine vehicles, wider adoption is limited by the lack of extreme fast charging technology. Extreme fast charging, where a battery is fully charged in less than 10 minutes, or the time it takes to fill the gas tank of an internal combustion engine vehicle, is critical for the wide adoption of electric vehicles. A major roadblock to this technology is developing battery electrolytes that can withstand the high currents needed for extremely fast charging. Suitable electrolytes must have high ionic conductivity, or the ability to quickly shuttle lithium ions between battery electrodes. One measure of ionic conductivity is the transference number, defined as the fraction of ionic transport in the electrolyte due to lithium ions.

The objective of this research is to calculate the transference number for different electrolytes at different lithium-ion concentrations. Several methods to calculate the transference number were explored, including potentiostatic polarization, galvanostatic polarization, and the electromotive force method. Ultimately, potentiostatic polarization was determined to be the simplest and most efficient of the methods. Potentiostatic polarization was performed by creating a custom cell of two lithium foil disks separated by a porous electrically

 

VISUAL PRESENTATION

 

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Jorgen Heilbon is a sophomore in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Chemistry at Colorado School of Mines. His research has mainly consisted of creating and running tests on battery cells. The main test he has been conducting is the transference number test, where he uses smaller tests to get constants based on the cell he made. The transference number is an integral constant to know when it comes to batteries. It helps dictate how much of the current is being shuttled by the cation (Li+). In the future, Jorgen would like to do some research on how other factors affect the transference number, such as changing the temperature and taking readings, using FTIR to determine what compounds are present over time. With batteries, he would like to determine if using mesoporous materials as a cathode could benefit the battery.

 


2 Comments

  1. Good research. I enjoyed reading the content. Seems an important start towards good research.

    Larger figures and less text will make the poster and your work more attractive for the audience.

  2. Good work in clearly defining the research effort. The value of the experiment is clear.

    In reviewing, I found myself wondering how results shown compare with expectations. I was surprised to see a transference number in the 30’s. But perhaps this is typical of Li-ion batteries.

    Comparisons like those can be helpful in informing the audience of the state of our research capabilities, and the “Technology Readiness Level”.

    I am confident that Prof. Porter and the MODES lab will utilize this diagnostic for years to come.

Share This