Thanks to new Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) research, which was partially funded by Lamborghini, we may soon see the end of difficult-to-source and often troublesome rare metal elements used in future electric vehicle batteries.
The MIT study’s goal was to replace cobalt and nickel, which are commonly used as cathodes in today’s lithium-ion battery technology, with organic materials that could be made at a considerably cheaper cost. This would also have a lower environmental impact and conduct power at a rate comparable to cobalt batteries.
“I think the substance could have a major effect because it works pretty well,” Mircea Dincă (W.M. Keck Professor of Energy at MIT) says in an MIT blog post.
“It is already competitive with existing technologies, and it can save quite a bit of cost and suffering and ecological problems related to mining the metals that currently go into batteries,” Dincă said.
Cobalt is the study’s primary emphasis, as the scarce metal is not only difficult and risky to mine, but it is also troublesome because the majority of the world’s cobalt reserves are in politically unstable countries. This also generates cost fluctuations on a regular basis, which contributes to the high price of today’s EVs.
The six-year research resulted in a unique organic substance that could be a direct replacement for cobalt and nickel.
According to recent MIT findings, this substance is made up of multiple layers of TAQ (bis-tetraaminobenzoquinone), an organic small molecule with three fused hexagonal rings.
It’s a complex subject for those who don’t wear lab coats for a living, but these TAQ layers can grow outward in all directions, forming a structure akin to graphite.
Within the molecules are chemical groups known as quinones, which serve as electron reservoirs, and amines, which aid in the formation of strong hydrogen bonds, ensuring that they do not dissolve into the battery electrolyte (something that has previously harmed organic cathode compounds), thereby extending the battery’s lifetime.
Performance batteries for performance automobiles
It’s no surprise that Lamborghini has licensed the patent on this technology, given that it funded the study and is developing a high-performance electric vehicle called the Lanzador.
According to the researchers, tests on the material found that its conductivity and storage capacity were comparable to those of typical cobalt-containing batteries. Furthermore, batteries with a TAQ cathode can be charged and discharged more quickly than conventional batteries, thus increasing the charging rate for electric vehicles.
This rapid rate of charge and discharge might assist offer something like Lamborghini’s Lanzador a performance advantage, while super-fast charging capabilities eliminate the need for lengthy charging breaks, which the Italian marque’s discerning customers are likely to dislike.
However, Lamborghini is part of the larger Volkswagen Group, and given that the primary materials required to manufacture this type of cathode are already commercially available and produced in large quantities as commodity chemicals, we may see battery technology trickle down to more affordable EVs in the future.
