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Apple supplier TDK claims solid-state battery innovation
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Japan’s TDK is claiming a breakthrough in the materials used in its small solid-state batteries, with the Apple supplier predicting significant performance boosts for devices from wireless headphones to smartwatches.
The new material provides an energy density – the amount that can be squeezed into a given space – of 1,000 watt-hours per liter, which is about 100 times greater than TDK’s current mass-production battery. Since TDK introduced it in 2020, competitors have moved forward, developing small solid-state batteries that offer 50 Wh/l, while rechargeable coin batteries using traditional liquid electrolytes offer around 400 Wh/l, according to the group.
“We believe that our newly developed material for solid-state batteries can make a significant contribution to society’s energy transformation. We will continue development towards early commercialization,” said TDK Chief Executive Noboru Saito.
The battery pack to be produced will be made of all-ceramic material, with solid oxide-based electrolyte and lithium alloy anodes. The battery’s high capacity to store electrical charge, TDK said, would allow for smaller devices and longer operating times, while the oxide offered a high degree of stability and therefore safety. The battery technology is designed to be used in smaller cells, replacing existing coin-shaped batteries found in watches and other small electronics.
The discovery is the latest step forward in a technology industry that experts believe could revolutionize energy storage, but which faces significant obstacles on the path to mass production, especially in larger batteries.
Solid-state batteries are safer, lighter and potentially cheaper and offer greater performance and faster charging than current batteries that rely on liquid electrolytes. Advances in consumer electronics have been passed down to electric vehicles, although the dominant battery chemistries for the two categories are now substantially different.
The ceramic material used by TDK means that larger batteries would be more fragile, meaning that the technical challenge of manufacturing batteries for cars or even smartphones will not be overcome in the near future, according to the company.
Kevin Shang, senior research analyst at Wood Mackenzie, a data and analytics company, said “unfavorable mechanical properties” as well as the difficulty and cost of mass production are challenges in moving the application of oxide-based batteries. solid-state drive for smartphones.
Industry experts believe the most significant use case for solid-state batteries could be in electric cars, allowing for greater driving range. Japanese companies are at the forefront of a push to commercialize the technology: Toyota aims already in 2027Nissan the following year and Honda at the end of the decade.
Automakers are focused on developing sulfide-based electrolytes for long-range electric vehicles, a type of alternative material to the oxide-based material that TDK developed.
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However, there is still skepticism about how quickly the much-vaunted technology can be implemented, especially the larger batteries needed for electric vehicles.
Robin Zeng, founder and chief executive of CATLlargest manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles in the world, told Financial Times in March that solid-state batteries did not work well enough, did not last long and still had safety issues. Zeng’s CATL originated as a spin-off of Amperex Technology, or ATL, which is a subsidiary of TDK and is the world’s leading producer of lithium-ion batteries.
TDK, which was founded in 1935 and became a household name as one of the leading cassette tape brands in the 1960s and 1970s, has long experience in battery materials and technology.
It has 50 to 60 percent global market share in the small-capacity batteries that power smartphones and is aiming for leadership in the medium-capacity market, which includes energy storage devices and larger electronics such as drones.
The group plans to start shipping samples of its new battery prototype to customers from next year and hopes to be able to move into mass production after that.