This breakthrough comes as the demand for better, faster-charging batteries surges, not just for electric vehicles but also for large-scale energy storage needed to support renewable power grids.
limitations of current graphite anodes
Today’s lithium-ion batteries primarily use graphite anodes. However, graphite’s slow charging speeds and limited energy storage capacity have been a persistent hurdle in the quest for widespread EV adoption and efficient grid-scale energy storage.
The joint research team from POSTECH and the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) developed a solution by combining hard carbon with minuscule tin nanoparticles.
Hard carbon, known for its porous structure, allows lithium ions (the energy carriers) to move much faster than in graphite, which enables rapid charging.