2025-06-26 オークリッジ国立研究所（ORNL）
Researchers developed a new type of lighter, more affordable current collector, which conducts electricity from an electric vehicle battery to the car and allows for both a long driving range and extreme fast charging. Credit: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
＜関連情報＞
- https://www.ornl.gov/news/new-component-reduces-cost-supply-chain-constraints-fast-charging-ev-batteries
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eem2.12878
超高速充電が可能な高エネルギーリチウムイオン電池用金属化ポリマー集電体 Metalized Polymer Current Collector for High-Energy Lithium-Ion Batteries with Extreme Fast-Charging Capability
Yue Feng, Georgios Polizos, Sergiy Kalnaus, Runming Tao, Sabine Neumayer, Wheatley Steenman, Jaswinder Sharma, Drew J. Pereira, Brian Morin, Jianlin Li
Energy & Environmental Materials Published: 22 January 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/eem2.12878
Abstract
Electric vehicles are pivotal in the global shift toward decarbonizing road transport, with lithium-ion batteries at the heart of this technological evolution. However, the pursuit of batteries capable of extremely fast charging that also satisfy high energy and safety criteria, poses a significant challenge to current lithium-ion batteries technologies. Additionally, the increasing demand for aluminum (Al) and copper (Cu) in electrification, solar energy technologies, and vehicle light-eighting is driving these metals toward near-critical status in the medium term. This study introduces metalized polythylene terephthalate (mPET) polymer films by depositing an Al or Cu thin layer onto two sides of a polyethylene terephthalate film—named mPET/Al and mPET/Cu, as lightweight, cost-effective alternatives to traditional metal current collectors in lithium-ion batteries. We have fabricated current collectors that significantly reduce weight (by 73%), thickness (by 33%), and cost (by 85%) compared with traditional metal foil counterparts. These advancements have the potential to enhance energy density to 280 Wh kg−1 at the electrode level under 10-min charging at 6 C. Through testing, including a novel extremely fast charging protocol across various C-rates and long-term cycling (up to 1000 cycles) in different cell configurations, the superior performance of these metalized polymer films has been demonstrated. Notably, mPET/Cu and mPET/Al films exhibited comparable capacities to conventional cells under extremely fast charging, with the mPET cells showing a 27% improvement in energy density at 6 C and maintaining significant energy density after 1000 cycles. This study underscores the potential of mPET films to revolutionize the roll-to-roll battery manufacturing process and significantly advance the performance metrics of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles applications.
