We are coming to the end of our article series on the manufacturing of lithium battery cells. In the first few articles we introduced the battery cell and looked at it a macro level, the lithium metal and saw how it was formed, we looked at the cathode and its material composition, and now we are going to look at the battery’s electrolyte.
Every battery has an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte solution. There are mnay variations of an electrolyte solution. One common solution is sulfuric acid. Another common solution that is in use today is a Lithium hexaflourophosphate (LiPF6) in a mixture of organic solvents including: [Ethylene Carbonate (EC) + DiEthyl Carbonate (DMC) + DiEthyl Carbonate (DEC) + Ethyl Acetate (EA). This electrolyte solution like others is used to facilitate the transport of ions between the anode and the cathode. In fact that is the purpose of the electrolyte in a battery is to conduct or transport ions from the negative and positive terminals.
One other newly developed electrolyte solution is a high-purity lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6), a conductive salt that was developed by Honeywell International. In fact this electrolyte research and development was paid for through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The U.S. Department of Energy awarded Honeywell a $27.3 million grant that is designed to accelerate the market introduction and penetration of advanced electric drive vehicles, reducing fuel consumption and vehicle emissions of greenhouse gases. This electrolyte is one of the primary components that is intended to be used in these upcoming electric cars.
Until next time, Dan Hagopian www.batteryship.com