Financial Link News, April 18 (Edited by Marlan) Lithium-ion batteries are used in various fields from electric vehicles to portable electronic devices, but the maximum capacity of these batteries decreases over time. The longer they are used and the more charging cycles they go through, the less capacity they can hold.
Lenovo once pointed out that the batteries of many laptops can last up to five years before running out of power, with approximately 300-500 charging cycles.
Scientists also agree that the best commercial-grade batteries, namely lithium-ion batteries with a nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM523) cathode and graphite anode, only have a lifespan of around 8 years.
However, a study suggests that employing a new charging protocol could double the lifespan of lithium-ion batteries. A team of European researchers from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Humboldt University of Berlin indicates that by optimizing cycling conditions, lithium-ion batteries could potentially last for decades.
This means that the new charging protocol could significantly alleviate the pressure on battery manufacturing and recycling, thus saving costs for commercial production and fostering a more sustainable future.
Doubling the charging cycles
Published in the journal "Advanced Materials Science" on March 14th of this year, the study introduces a novel charging protocol—supplying power to the device through pulse currents rather than constant currents.
Comparing the two charging protocols, researchers found that during constant current charging, the solid electrolyte interface on the anode of battery samples was significantly thicker, with more cracks in the electrode structure. This implies a notable loss of lithium-ion battery capacity.
In contrast, using pulse charging not only promotes a uniform distribution of lithium ions in graphite, thus reducing mechanical stress and cracks in graphite particles, but also inhibits degradation of the NCM523 cathode structure. This would increase the number of charging cycles the battery can undergo from approximately 500 with constant current to over 1000.
Preliminary test results indicate that pulse charging could double the lifespan of commercial lithium-ion batteries while maintaining a capacity retention rate of over 80%.
This study further validates previous hypotheses in academia regarding pulse currents. In 2023, Professor Josefin Strandberg of the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Sweden published a paper finding that the health of lithium-ion batteries significantly improved when using a charging protocol based on pulse currents.
