Lithium-Ion Batteries: Basics and Applications

415 Pages·2018·19.64 MB·English

by  Reiner Korthauer

Lithium-Ion Batteries:
Basics and Applications
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Reiner Korthauer
Editor
Lithium-Ion Batteries:
Basics and Applications
Translator Michael Wuest, alphabet & more
Editor
Reiner Korthauer
LIS-TEC GmbH
Kriftel
Germany
Translator Michael Wuest (alphabet & more, Landau, Germany)
ISBN 978-3-662-53069-6 ISBN 978-3-662-53071-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-53071-9
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© Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018
Translation of the German book Korthauer: Handbuch Lithium-Ionen-Batterien, Springer 2013,
978-3-642-30652-5
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Foreword
Life without batteries is inconceivable. Stored energy has become an integral part
of our everyday lives. Without this over 100-year-old technology, the success story
of laptops, cell phones, and tablets would not have been possible. Although there
are many ways of storing power, there is only one system that enables the functions
that meet consumers‘ expectations of a storage medium – the rechargeable battery. A
battery that can be discharged and charged at the push of a button. Strictly speaking,
the battery is not a storage system for electric power but an electrochemical energy
converter. And in recent decades its development has followed many convoluted paths.
The history of the battery, both as a primary and secondary element, has not
yet been fully elucidated today. We know that the voltaic pile was introduced by
A. Volta (1745 – 1827) around 1800. Some 65 years later, around 1866, G. Leclanché
(1839 – 1882) was awarded a patent for a primary element, the so-called Leclanché
element. The element consisted of a zinc anode, a graphite cathode, and an electro-
lyte made of ammonium chloride. The cathode had a manganese dioxide coating on
the boundary surface with the electrolyte. C. Gassner (1855 – 1942) further devel-
oped this system, and in 1901 P. Schmidt (1868 – 1948) succeeded in inventing the
first galvanic dry element based on zinc and carbon.
The further development of batteries – both as primary and secondary elements –
can be described as tentative. There were not any major breakthroughs with regard
to an increase in specific energy or specific power. Nevertheless, the technical and
chemical properties of the elements were improved on an ongoing basis. Today,
nearly all battery systems have high cycling stability and safety and are completely
maintenance-free.
It was not until the beginning of the 1970s that a new era began. The first ideas for
a new system were born at the Technical University of Munich, Germany: lithium
batteries with reversible alkaline-metal-ion intercalation in the carbon anode and
an oxidic cathode. It was some years before the first commercial lithium battery
was launched on the market by Sony in 1991. Constant development – which also
involved implementing new materials – resulted in this unparalleled success.
Today we are faced with new challenges. The change in paradigms in mobil-
ity and energy supply (the shift away from fossil fuels) requires new, low-cost,
low-maintenance, and lightweight energy storage systems. These requirements are,
to a certain extent, contradictory and therefore not fully realizable. As a result, there
is tremendous pressure on research and development as well as on the industrial
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sector to come up with innovations that bring us closer to this goal. Although R&D
activities have increased in recent years, partly because new institutes have been set
up in universities and research centers, only time will tell whether they are sufficient.
The aim of Lithium-Ion Batteries: Basics and Applications is to make a small
contribution toward successfully managing the pending change in paradigms.
32 articles by 54 authors provide a broad overview of all of the relevant areas of the
lithium-ion battery: the chemistry and design of a battery cell, production of batter-
ies, deployment of the battery system in its two most important applications as well
as issues concerning safety, transport, and recycling.
The book is divided into five sections. At the beginning, an overview of the dif-
ferent storage systems implementing the electrochemical conversion of energy
is provided. The second section is devoted to all of the facets of the lithium-ion
battery. Important materials and components of the cell are presented in detail.
These components include the cathode‘s and anode‘s chemical materials as well
as the conducting salts and the electrolyte. Several chapters are dedicated to the
battery system‘s modular design; the modules are in turn made up of a large number
of cells and necessary mechanical components. Next, the electric components are
explained. This section closes with details on thermal management and the battery
management system in addition to an outlook.
The third section focuses on the production resources required for manufacturing
batteries, followed by the necessary test procedures. Before the battery is deployed,
a series of questions regarding transport, safety, and recycling – and more – need
to be addressed. The fourth section is devoted to these issues. Last but not least, the
applications – in the area of electric mobility and stationary uses – are described in
the fifth, and last, section.
The main aim of this manual is to provide help to all people who want to acquire
an understanding of state-of-the-art battery technology. It describes the lithium-ion
battery in great detail in order to show the difficulties that manufacturers are still bat-
tling with today with 20 years of experience under their belts. It also strives to demon-
strate the tremendous potential of this technology and the possibilities it holds for users
and newcomers in research and development. The book does not, however, provide
the same degree of depth as a scientific paper on one of the many issues related to the
lithium-ion battery. It is intended as a reference book at a high technical level.
I would like to thank all of those who contributed to the success of this book.
First and foremost, my thanks go to the authors of the individual chapters as well
as to our translator Mr. Wuest from alphabet & more and – last but not least – to
Ms. Hestermann-Beyerle and Ms. Kollmar-Thoni from Springer Verlag.
The data in this version of Lithium-Ion Batteries: Basics and Applications were
retrieved from current data sources.
I hope that all of the readers of Lithium-Ion Batteries: Basics and Applications
acquire important information for their day-to-day work and wish them an enjoy-
able read.
Frankfurt am Main,Germany, May 2017 Reiner Korthauer
Preface
In 1780, the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta produced electricity for the very first
time with the “Voltaic pile” – a battery made of copper, zinc, and an electrolyte. He
was thus the first person to succeed in generating electricity from electrochemical
energy stored in an electrolyte, rather than from friction. Already in 1802, William
Cruickshank invented the trough battery, the first mass-produced battery. Since
then, the use of electricity has been inextricably linked to the development and use
of electrochemical energy storage systems. Nowadays we are accustomed to finding
batteries in different shapes and sizes almost everywhere – in small electronic appli-
ances and industrial-scale applications alike.
Nevertheless, storage technologies have recently become the focus of public
interest in a very specific field. The transition of the energy supply to renewable
energies is becoming increasingly important worldwide. In Germany, the govern-
ment made the decision to abandon the use of nuclear energy by 2022 and, instead,
to feed large quantities of renewable energies into our energy grid. Ever since, it
has become clear that the large yet fluctuating amounts of energy generated by
renewable energies can only be efficiently used if at the same time we are able to
provide sufficient capacities for storing energy until it is needed. Integrated energy
storage systems and their integration into decentralized, intelligent networks play a
key role. Worldwide investment needs are therefore expected to significantly exceed
EUR 300 billion by 2030.
This book focuses on the lithium-ion battery, a very important storage medium
in this context, and examines all of its facets. Lithium-ion batteries have a vital role
to play in several respects because they are able to react rapidly, can be installed
locally, are easily scalable, and have a broad field of applications both in mobile and
stationary operations.
They are considered to be the most important “door opener” to the future of
battery-electric vehicles. Due to their high energy density, they appear to be the
only technology that has the potential to enable sufficiently high ranges for electric
vehicles. In addition, their value-added share for the entire vehicle is as high as 40
percent. These are already two very good reasons for focusing intensively on lithi-
um-ion batteries because high added value also secures jobs. In a report drawn up
for the German Chancellor in 2011, the experts of the German National Platform
for Electric Mobility stated that Germany has a lot of catching up to do in the field
of battery technology. They also concluded that German companies are capable
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of taking the technology lead in the field of cells and batteries and of developing
added value across the battery process chain within Germany. They recommended
a dual strategy: optimization of today‘s solutions and, at the same time, research on
successor generations.
Electric vehicles of all types are an essential milestone on the path toward emis-
sion-free mobility. Parallel to consuming “green power”, they also make it possible
for “green power” to be fed into the grid because the traction battery generates an
operating reserve. Thus, in their mobile mode, they serve as a means of transport.
And when stationary – operating in bi-directional mode – they can provide part of
the urgently needed operating reserve for the power grid.
Fully stationary lithium-ion batteries are also a key component for successfully
converting the power grid. One of research and development‘s primary aims is to
make Germany a leading center for research in electrochemistry and leader in the
mass production of safe, affordable battery systems.
This book constitutes an important step forward along the challenging yet reward-
ing path toward a new energy system. In addition to presenting all of the technical
aspects of lithium-ion batteries in detail, it also sets out equally important topics
such as production, recycling, standardization, and electrical and chemical safety.
Industry Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Henning Kagermann
German National Platform for Electric Mobility.
Contents
Part I Electrochemical Storage Systems – An Overview
1 Overview of battery systems ................................... 3
Kai-Christian Moeller
1.1 Introduction ............................................ 3
1.2 Primary systems ........................................ 4
1.3 Secondary systems ...................................... 5
1.4 Outlook ............................................... 8
Bibliography ................................................. 9
Part II Lithium-ion Batteries – Materials and Components
2 Lithium-ion battery overview .................................. 13
Stephan Leuthner
2.1 Introduction ............................................ 13
2.2 Applications ........................................... 14
2.3 Components, functions, and advantages of lithium-ion
batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.4 Charging procedures ..................................... 16
2.5 Definitions (capacity, electric energy, power, and efficiency) ...... 16
2.6 Safety of lithium-ion batteries ............................. 16
2.7 Lifetime ............................................... 17
Bibliography ................................................. 19
3 Materials and function ........................................ 21
Kai Vuorilehto
3.1 Introduction ............................................ 21
3.2 Traditional electrode materials ............................. 21
3.3 Traditional inactive materials .............................. 23
3.4 Alternatives for standard electrode materials .................. 24
3.5 Alternatives for standard inactive materials ................... 26
3.6 Outlook ............................................... 27
Bibliography ................................................. 27
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