The project leaders, Parans Paranthaman and Amit Naskar, believe that lithium-ion batteries can be made at a lower cost, both financially and to the environment, by developing a better anode made from a substance found in recycled tires.
They have developed a proprietary process that pre-treats old tires and then decomposes the organic materials using heat in the absence of oxygen to recover pyrolytic carbon black material from the rubber.
Carbon black is similar to the graphite commonly used in battery anodes, but with a more porous microstructure, to offers a greater surface area than graphite.
To prove the concept, the researchers produced a small, laboratory-scale battery with a reversible capacity that is higher than what is possible with commercial graphite materials.
After 100 cycles, the capacity measures nearly 390 milliamp hours per gram of carbon anode, exceeding the best properties of commercial graphite which researchers say is due to the unique microstructure of the carbon black material.
“This kind of performance is highly encouraging, especially in light of the fact that the global battery market for vehicles and military applications is approaching $78 billion [in the U.S.]and the materials market is expected to hit $11 billion in 2018,” Paranthaman said.
The Oak Ridge team is now working on a pilot project to scale up the process, with an eye towards ultimately licensing the technology to an industrial partner.
Once the technique is commercialised, they deem lithium batteries can made be made cheaper than conventional lithium-ions.
