Extended Range
A local research team has developed a secondary cell that can be used to let electric cars run as long as 300 kilometers on a single charge.
Dong-A University chemical engineering professor Lee Jung-kyu revealed on May 7 that his research team developed a next-generation high-capacity lithium secondary cell with a greatly-enhanced lifespan and high energy density by using silicon materials.
The research team developed a lithium secondary cell that can be charged thousands of times by combining their own silicon-based negative pole material and a high-capacity positive pole material developed by a Hanyang University research team led by energy engineering professor Seon Yang-kuk.
The cell had a greater energy density of 240-270Wh/kg after the team grafted on new negative and positive pole materials.
The research team explained that once the cell is used in an electric car, the car can run as far as 300 km on one charge, indicating almost a 2x performance upgrade vis-a-vis current commercial lithium secondary cells with an energy density of 150Wh/kg and running distance charge of 160 km.
The team overcame the silicon material’s short lifespan by diffusing a small quantity of grapheme inside the silicon, carbon, and nano complex.
Professor Lee Jung-kyu said, “We confirmed the commercial viability of next-generation high-capacity lithium secondary cells that are based on silicon materials. We will spearhead our research that will optimize and simplify the manufacturing process for mass production of silicon materials.”
The outcome of the research was published in Advanced Functional Materials, an international academic journal in the fields of chemistry and materials.