
Why We Developed Demand Technology? (State-of-the-Art)
There are several important aspects of our journey to DEMAND Technology:
Battery technologies have been gaining enormous importance over the past decade especially in electric vehicle and portable electronics applications. Regardless of its type, one primary need in a battery is high charge capacity or high energy density since electrical energy in a battery is directly proportional to the amount of charge stored. The demand for high energy density batteries has been continuously increasing as we develop technologies that consume more and more energy, while on the other hand end users do not want frequent re-charging. The consumer also needs battery to be low-cost, durable, have a long lifespan, and not to have negative impact to environment.
- Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) suffer from the limited charge capacity at the anode electrode, which significantly hinders the energy density of the battery and increases end-user costs due to frequent need for charging, which shortens the battery lifespan.
- Among all the potential materials for LIB anodes, silicon (Si) stands out as the most attractive one as it offers the maximum theoretical charge capacity of 4200 mAh/g. This is about 10 times higher compared to the 372 mAh/g charge capacity of conventional graphite anode. However, Si anodes in LIBs faces substantial challenges such as:
- Swelling due to extensive volumetric expansion as it absorbs lithium ions during charging and corresponding contraction during discharging. Silicon expands as much as about 400% that creates a huge amount of mechanical stress, which can lead to fracturing and pulverization of the anode.
- Such breaking of the Si anode results in total battery failure or in other words short battery lifetimes.