Scientists have created a single-crystal, nickel-rich cathode that is hardier and more efficient than before—important progress on the road to better lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.
The project received an Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) award, a highly competitive U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science program.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers used machine learning to explore the largest water clusters database, identifying—with the most accurate neural network—important information about this life-essential molecule.
Researchers at PNNL have come up with a novel way to use silicon as an energy storage ingredient, replacing the graphite in electrodes. Silicon can hold 10 times the electrical charge per gram, but it comes with problems of its own.
Scientists have uncovered a root cause of the growth of needle-like structures—known as dendrites and whiskers—that plague lithium batteries, sometimes causing a short circuit, failure, or even a fire.
PNNL researchers have created a chemical cocktail that could help electric cars power their way through extreme temperatures where current lithium-ion batteries don’t operate as efficiently as needed.
PNNL researchers demonstrate how the excitation of oxygen atoms that contributes to better performance of a lithium-ion battery also triggers a process that leads to damage, explaining a phenomenon that has been a mystery to scientists.
