Nanotechnology boosts lithium battery energy efficiency

On October 27, the 2011 China International Nanotechnology Industry Development Forum and Nanotechnology Products Exhibition opened in Suzhou. As one of the co-organizers of the conference, the relevant person in charge of Suzhou Nanotechnology Development Co., Ltd. stated that new energy is becoming one of the important application areas of nanotechnology, and nanotechnology can help people to use energy more cleanly and efficiently. “Actually, nanomaterials are already being used in blades like wind turbines,” said Dr. Liu Lewen, managing director of NanoGlobe, a Singaporean nano consultant.

Nanotechnology will affect future energy development

Nanotechnology is gradually entering people's lives. Today, it is no longer a notion of having a name, but it has begun industrialization step by step.

In the Suzhou Industrial Park, five nanotechnology industrial and technological fields were laid out, and LED industry upstream and downstream industrial chains represented by Polycan Optoelectronics, Jingfang Semiconductor, BOE Tea Valley, Jingneng, Najing, and Naco were formed, and Su Daweige was established. Institute of Nanotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou University, Nawei Company, and Nano-Public Processing Platform are the core upstream and downstream production, research and cooperation platforms for nano-manufacturing process chain, and will rely on this platform to realize processes and technologies in major fields such as solid-state lighting and thin-film solar cells. Breakthrough in product.

Today, the application of nanotechnology is no longer limited to cosmetics, or home appliances, but extends to various industrial fields. For example, the use of carbon nanotube-reinforced polyurethane composites to produce high-power fan blades can be made larger, stronger, and lighter at the same time.

During the conference, some scholars pointed out that at present, nanotechnology has a decisive influence on all parts of the entire energy industry chain. With the increasing demand for clean energy, nanotechnology has become one of the important factors that dominate the future energy development.

Experts said that China is one of the first countries in the world to carry out research on nanotechnology. After more than 20 years of hard work, China’s publication of nanotechnology papers, citation frequency, and patent applications and authorizations have been among the highest in the world, and a series of national and international Standards, which laid the foundation for the application of nanotechnology in the field of energy, especially in the field of new energy.

Help promote the photovoltaic industry to expand the market

Not long ago, the National Research Project for Major Scientific Research under the auspices of the Suzhou Nanotechnology Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences successfully passed the subject acceptance test for the “Study on key scientific issues of nanostructure-based wide-spectrum high-efficiency solar cells”. This is the latest scientific research result applied by nanotechnology in the field of new energy. Some analysts believe that the application of nanotechnology in the field of solar cells will help reduce the cost and market penetration of the photovoltaic industry.

According to reports, the application of nanotechnology is closely related to the development of solar photovoltaic. At present, polysilicon is still the main material of the solar photovoltaic market, occupying more than half of the solar cell market. However, due to the high production costs of polysilicon solar cells, they face certain technical bottlenecks in the improvement of conversion efficiency. Therefore, thin-film solar cells have appeared on the market.

Thin film solar cells require less raw materials and have low production costs, but their conversion efficiency is also relatively low. In the balance of cost and conversion efficiency, nanotechnology can play its role. Some solar cell manufacturers use nanomaterials to help semiconductor materials in solar cells be arranged more quickly and systematically in solar cells, which can increase the production cost and conversion efficiency of solar cells to achieve an optimal balance. point.

In addition, some manufacturers develop new types of solar cells through nanotechnology, including the use of nano-composites (used to improve the conductivity and thermal conductivity of solar cells) and quantum wires (made of carbon nanotubes that make solar cells lighter and have higher electrical conductivity Developed a new generation of solar cells that integrate the low cost of thin-film solar cells and the high-efficiency of polycrystalline silicon solar cells.

According to the latest news, Singapore scientists placed a novel nanostructure on the surface of a solar cell made of amorphous silicon, and developed a novel thin film solar cell with high conversion efficiency and low cost. This new technology promises to halve the cost of manufacturing solar cells.

Helping Lithium Batteries Improve Energy Efficiency

In addition to the huge application potential of nanotechnology in the field of solar photovoltaics, the participating experts also believe that in the field of power batteries such as lithium batteries, nanotechnology is equally promising.

It is understood that lithium battery cathode material not only affects the battery performance, but also an important factor in determining the safety of the battery. A good cathode material for lithium ion batteries requires good thermal stability of the material, that is, excellent material safety. Lithium-ion batteries, if distinguished by positive electrode materials, mainly include lithium cobalt, lithium nickel cobalt, lithium nickel and lithium manganese four major systems. Although lithium nickel has the highest capacity, it has poor safety and cannot be used at present; Lithium-cobalt materials are the most expensive and have a moderate capacity, which has reached the limit of material application; lithium manganese is the cheapest, but the capacity is low and the high-temperature cycle life is poor. Only a small amount of commercially available batteries are used; lithium nickel-cobalt materials are moderately priced and have high capacity, but due to safety concerns, only a small number of commercial batteries currently use such cathode materials.

Some experts told reporters that lithium nickel-cobalt materials will be the mainstream of the market, therefore, how to improve the safety of lithium nickel-cobalt materials is the key to the development of high-capacity lithium batteries. It is said that the safety of lithium nickel-cobalt materials can be greatly improved by nano-surface treatment. Lithium-nickel-cobalt cathode materials after surface treatment with nano-metal oxide coatings not only can obtain high capacitance, but also can greatly improve the safety of the material.

However, if nanotechnology is to play an increasingly important role in the new energy field, it also needs to solve some technical problems. A participating expert told the reporter that in order for nanotechnology to have a greater market impact in energy applications, it is necessary to further improve the nanostructured materials: Some nanotubes and other materials have not achieved mass production yet. The key issue is that it is suitable for mass production. Development of inexpensive and easier-to-control methods.

In addition, it has been reported that the distribution and configuration of nanoparticles are often accidental, and more advanced methods are needed to perform controlled preparation and self-organization of nanoparticles. For many energy applications, the extremely important feature of nanoparticles is their large surface area. Therefore, study materials with larger surface area.