最近,法國納米材料初創(chuàng)公司 NAWA Technologies 聲稱已經(jīng)開發(fā)出一種技術(shù),可以顯著提高電動(dòng)汽車電池的儲(chǔ)能效率。根據(jù)公司創(chuàng)始人兼首席技術(shù)官 Pascal Boulanger 的說法,NAWA 的 UFCE 超快充碳電極可以將電動(dòng)汽車電池的充電時(shí)間縮短至與汽油汽車加油差不多的水平,并同時(shí)將電池壽命最高提升 5 倍。
在接受 SAE International 采訪時(shí),Pascal Boulanger 表示,UFCE 電極技術(shù)可以將市面上主流電動(dòng)汽車的續(xù)航里程增加至 1,000 公里(620 英里),并實(shí)現(xiàn) 5 分鐘內(nèi)充電80% 的超高速充電。他指出,“UFCE 電極的獨(dú)特之處在于采用了 3D 結(jié)構(gòu)的 VACNT 垂直對(duì)齊碳納米管。每個(gè)碳納米管實(shí)質(zhì)上都是一個(gè)卷成圓柱型的石墨烯片。這些納米管的直徑相較于其長(zhǎng)度而言非常細(xì),其比例相當(dāng)于一根長(zhǎng)約 1 公里的意大利面。而 UFCE 電極正是由數(shù)百萬億根這樣的碳納米管組成的!”Boulanger 表示,UFCE 電極適用于各類先進(jìn)電池化學(xué)技術(shù)。
實(shí)現(xiàn)“最高”離子電導(dǎo)率
Boulanger 解釋說,目前鋰基電池的性能主要受電極設(shè)計(jì)和電池材料的限制。目前,粉末電極的導(dǎo)電性和導(dǎo)熱性均較差,充放電間的力學(xué)性能也不高,并且可能面臨安全和使用壽命有限等問題。
Boulanger 表示,當(dāng)下電極材料的微結(jié)構(gòu)決定了其中的離子難以四處自由移動(dòng),因此電導(dǎo)率較低。UFCE 電極采用的專利 VACNT 碳納米管,憑借 3D 結(jié)構(gòu)可以取得“最高”的離子電導(dǎo)率,而且又借助納米管的超長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)度同時(shí)獲得非常好的導(dǎo)電性和導(dǎo)熱性。Boulanger 說,這些特性可以解決電池?zé)崾Э氐膯栴}。
從力學(xué)上看,VACNT 納米管可以像“籠子”可以減少電極的體積膨脹,從而使其能夠在比粉末電極更小的“應(yīng)力”下工作:“簡(jiǎn)單地說,這意味著離子僅需移動(dòng)幾納米即可穿過圓柱形的立體電極材料,但如果電極材料是平面的,則離子則可能需要移動(dòng)幾微米。”Boulanger 表示,新結(jié)構(gòu)“從根本上提高了電池的充電和放電速率”。此前,NAWA公司還曾發(fā)布過“下一代超級(jí)電容器”(名為超快充碳電池)產(chǎn)品。公司稱,這款超級(jí)電容器擁有超高的充放電速度,且取得了“市面上最低的電氣串聯(lián)電阻值。”
Boulanger 表示,NAWA 的電極技術(shù)可以幫助鋰基電池實(shí)現(xiàn)性能優(yōu)化:電池功率提高 10 倍、能量存儲(chǔ)最高提升 3 倍、電池壽命周期最高提升 5 倍,而且充電時(shí)間從幾小時(shí)縮短到僅幾分鐘。“通常情況下,任何技術(shù)都有優(yōu)劣勢(shì),因此總要有所取舍,比如粉末電極的情況就是這樣。”Boulanger指出,“你要增加能量存儲(chǔ),就要降低功率;汽車要跑得更快,就要更多消耗電池。不過,還有一些電池技術(shù)絕對(duì)是被低估了。”
目前,大多數(shù)電動(dòng)車車主已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn),電動(dòng)汽車開的時(shí)間越長(zhǎng),車輛的電池就越不經(jīng)用。與汽油發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)不同,電動(dòng)汽車的電池?fù)p耗不是線性下降的。Boulanger 說,“我們的技術(shù)也是如此 – 然而,由于我們的功率和儲(chǔ)能水平都更高,這意味著您將獲得更多富余,因此無論電量如何,電池‘過度放電’的情況都將很少發(fā)生。”NAWA 公司研發(fā)合作伙伴(包括法國電池巨頭 SAFT)的初步結(jié)果表明,先進(jìn)鋰離子電池使用 UFCE 電極可以將儲(chǔ)能量最少增加一倍。Boulanger 說,“因此,電動(dòng)汽車將擁有更多能量,可以跑得更快,同時(shí)也跑得更遠(yuǎn)。”
Boulanger 說,NAWA 公司的 3D 碳納米材料電極經(jīng)過專門設(shè)計(jì),非常易于制造。VACNT 碳納米管的制造工藝與光伏板或工業(yè)玻璃生產(chǎn)“非常相似”。Boulanger 聲稱,碳納米管的生產(chǎn)“并不昂貴”:生產(chǎn)設(shè)備已過驗(yàn)證,產(chǎn)量和良率均大大提高,成本可以控制得很低。Boulanger 說,“我們預(yù)測(cè),生產(chǎn)一平方米碳納米管的成本與生產(chǎn)同等面積的涂層應(yīng)該差不多,但所需的天然材料和可持續(xù)碳源材料更少。不過,單位平方米碳納米管可以存儲(chǔ)的能量更多,因此如果按照單位瓦時(shí)成本來說,碳納米管應(yīng)該更便宜。”
Boulanger 也意識(shí)到 UFCE 電極的商業(yè)化可能面臨一些障礙。“我們有很多種方式可以將 3D 電極概念推入市場(chǎng),”他說。最簡(jiǎn)單的方法是在銅基板上刷一層非常薄的 VACNT 碳納米管,從而與目前已經(jīng)在電池行業(yè)投用的碳涂層銅基板競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。Boulanger說,通過這種方法生產(chǎn)的電極材料具有更好的電性能和錨固性,并且已經(jīng)可以在 2021 年實(shí)現(xiàn)小批量生產(chǎn)。從長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)來看,真正的 3D 結(jié)構(gòu) UFCE 電極“可能會(huì)在 2023 年初小批量上市,并在 2025 年實(shí)現(xiàn)量產(chǎn)。”
NAWA 公司的 UFCE 電極也有潛力應(yīng)用至氫燃料電池系統(tǒng),可以使用 NAWA 公司的 NAWACap 超級(jí)電容器回收本來會(huì)被浪費(fèi)掉的能量。Boulanger 表示,UFCE 電極也可以作為燃料電池的膜電極。“事實(shí)證明,NACNT 使用的貴金屬鉑更少”,因此可以節(jié)省成本。此外,NAWA 集團(tuán)另一個(gè)事業(yè)部還在開發(fā)各種創(chuàng)新材料,使用這些材料制作的氫碳復(fù)合儲(chǔ)罐的重量更輕、強(qiáng)度更高。
NAWA美國公司位于美國俄亥俄州 Dayton 市,專注于多功能超強(qiáng)復(fù)合材料的商業(yè)化。公司的 NAWAStitch 概念采用了一層內(nèi)含數(shù)萬億個(gè)與碳纖維層垂直排列的 VACNT 碳納米管薄膜。Boulanger 表示,這層薄膜就像是一個(gè)“納米尼龍搭扣”,可以增強(qiáng)復(fù)合材料中連接最薄弱的環(huán)節(jié),即層與層之間的接觸面,因此可以大大提高材料抵抗剪切和沖擊載荷的能力。
除了 3D-UFCE 和 NAWAStitch,NAWA 公司還有另外一項(xiàng)創(chuàng)新:NAWAShell。這是一種采用 VACNT 碳納米管的混合結(jié)構(gòu)電池。由于采用了復(fù)合結(jié)構(gòu),這種電池的力學(xué)強(qiáng)度和電能存儲(chǔ)性能均得到優(yōu)化。Boulanger 認(rèn)為,未來“NAWAStitch 和 NAWAShell 的結(jié)合使用將發(fā)揮巨大潛力,創(chuàng)造可以儲(chǔ)存能量的多功能輕質(zhì)堅(jiān)固材料,比如可以使用這種材料制造車輛的太陽能板車頂,幫助車輛儲(chǔ)存更多能量,而且?guī)缀醪粫?huì)增加車輛重量。”
作者:Stuart Birch
來源:SAE《汽車工程》雜志
A French nanomaterials company has developed a technology that it claims can significantly increase the storage efficiency of electric vehicle batteries. NAWA Technologies’ Ultra-Fast Carbon Electrode (UFCE) is a key to bringing EV battery-charging time into parity with gasoline-refueling time, while improving battery life-cycle performance by a factor of up to five, according to company founder and CTO, Pascal Boulanger.
In an interview with SAE International, Pascal Boulanger said the UFCE technology can help deliver 1,000-km (620-mi) operating range for mass-market EVs, with a time of five minutes for an 80% charge. “The uniqueness of the technology is its 3D structure and use of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes [VACNT],” he noted. Each nanotube is formed from a graphene sheet that is rolled in a cylindrical shape. The tubes have “the same aspect ratio [between diameter and length] as a kilometer-long piece of spaghetti, with the electrode being made of a hundred trillion of these tubes!” The UFCE technology is compatible with any advanced battery-cell chemistry, he said.
‘Highest’ ionic conductivity
A major limitation of incumbent lithium-based battery performance is the design and material used for the electrode, Boulanger explained. Existing powder electrodes have low electrical and thermal conductivity, along with poor mechanical behavior when discharged and recharged, and can suffer from safety and life-cycle issues.
He said the micro-structures in today’s electrode material make it difficult for ions to move around, resulting in low ionic conductivity. The UFCE’s patented VACNT design, he claims, combines the “highest” ionic conductivity, thanks to its 3D fully accessible nanostructure, with continuous conductors (the nanotubes) that exhibit optimum electrical and thermal conductivity. These characteristics eliminate thermal runaway issues, Boulanger said.
Mechanically, the VACNT serves as a cage, reducing volume expansion of the electrode and allowing it to operate under less “stress” than powder electrodes: “Put simply, this means the distance an ion needs to move is just a few nanometers through the cell material, instead of micrometers with a plain electrode.” This “radically” boosts the battery’s ability to deliver fast charge and discharge rates, he said. NAWA previously demonstrated this in its next-generation ultracapacitors (known as the Ultra-Fast Carbon Battery), claimed to have “the lowest electrical serial resistance on the market.”
Applying NAWA’s technologies to lithium-based cells would improve battery power by a factor of 10 and energy storage by a factor of up to three, Boulanger stated, with battery life cycle enhanced by up to five – and charging time reduced to minutes instead of hours. “Normally, for a given technology – and that’s the case for batteries using powders – you have to find a compromise,” he noted. “And if you increase energy you will decrease power; if you accelerate [the vehicle] you will consume more. But there is something else in a battery that is absolutely underestimated.”
EV owners have learned that the more you drive, the faster you discharge the battery. Unlike a tank of gasoline, EV energy consumption is not linear. “This will also be the case for our technology – however, at a higher level of both power and energy, meaning that you will have more margin and the ‘over consumption’ will be lower, whatever the state of charge,” Boulanger said. Initial results with NAWA’s development partners, including battery giant SAFT, show that an advanced lithium-ion battery with a UFCE minimally doubles the kW-h stored. “EVs could draw on more power to go faster but farther at the same time,” he said.
Carbon nano-material synergies
The 3D electrode is designed for manufacturability, he said. The VACNT manufacturing process is “very similar” to the production of photovoltaics or industrial glass treatment. Boulanger claimed that nanotubes are “not expensive” to produce: the equipment is proven, and processes are greatly improving both in throughput and yield, keeping costs low. “We envision it can be similar in terms of dollars-per-square-meter to a coating, but with a lower bill-of-materials coming from the natural and sustainable carbon sources. We will have more energy per square meter, the cost of that energy will be lower in terms of dollars-per-watt-hour, too,” Boulanger said.
In moving toward commercialization, Boulanger is aware of the hurdles. “There are various ways of introducing our concept of 3D-electrode to the market,” he said. The easiest way to grow a very thin layer of VACNT on a copper substrate to compete with existing carbon-coated copper substrates already in use in the battery industry. This method will yield electrical performance and anchoring of the electrode material that is superior to the incumbents and can be ready in small volume production in 2021, he said. Longer term, a real 3D and thicker UFCE “could be on the market in low volumes by early 2023 in 3D electrode form, reaching mass production in 2025.”
Potential applications of NAWA’s UFCE technology extend into hydrogen fuel cell systems. One uses NAWACap ultra-capacitors to harvest energy that would otherwise be lost. The UFCE also can serve as an electrode for the fuel cell membrane “because VACNT are known to be able to reduce the loading of platinum,” thus saving cost, Boulanger said. And materials developments by another NAWA Group unit can reduce the weight and improve the strength of the hydrogen carbon-composite storage tank.
NAWA America, based in Dayton, Ohio, focuses on the commercialization of multi-functional, ultra-strong composites. Its NAWAStitch concept comprises a thin film containing the same trillions of VACNT arranged perpendicularly to carbon fiber layers. Acting as “nano-Velcro,” this reinforces the weakest part of a composite - the interface between the layers – designed to greatly improveresistance to shear and shock loading, stated Boulanger.
The 3D-UFCE and NAWAStitch are complementary to another innovation: NAWAShell. A structural hybrid battery incorporating VACNT, it provides both enhanced mechanical strength and electrical energy storage within the core of the composite structure. In the future, Boulanger sees “enormous potential in combining NAWAStitch and NAWAShell to create ultra-strong, multi-functional lightweight materials that can also store energy – for example, a solar roof panel in a car that could generate energy stored within the roof, with almost no additional mass to the vehicle structure.”