After multiple studies, experiments and years, researchers have found a way of accelerating conventional Lithium-ion batteries into an advanced version with high performance and greater energy storage while being able to reduce the production cost as well.

The secret lies in adopting the use of high nickel content of about 89%, with Manganese and Aluminium as the other two key elements for a new class of cathode.

Through high Nickel content, it increased the energy storage of batteries, and with the best combination of metals, the team found a way to distribute metal ions properly, ensuring high kinetic response of a battery and life cycle as much as of a Cobalt lithium battery.

The key to achieving a high performing lithium battery without using Cobalt is in the synthesis, using a crystal structured cathode ensures the ions to distribute evenly, maintaining high performance of the battery which overcomes the problem with previous high energy cobalt-free lithium batteries.

The paper is written by Arumugam Manthiram, a professor in the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering and director of the Texas Materials Institute, Ph.D. student Steven Lee and Ph.D. graduate Wangda Li. The dependency on Cobalt for lithium-ion batteries has reduced and can be clearly seen in the industry with Tesla and their effort of eliminating the element from their batteries. Other huge government and private organizations are also following the footsteps of Tesla.

Manithiram mentioning “how they have increased the energy density and lowered the cost without sacrificing cycle life,”
“Which means longer driving distances for electric vehicles and better battery life for laptops and cellphones.”

For the final step of launching the product into the market the researchers along with UT’s Office of Technology Commercialization have formed a startup called “TexPower” The survival of the startup will decide the fate of this new face of Lithium-ion Battery.