Multifunctional structural lithium-ion battery for electric vehicles

Abstract

An innovative concept for a multifunctional structural battery using lithium-ion battery materials as load bearing elements in a sandwich panel construction has been demonstrated. The structural battery prototype has exhibited an initial capacity of 17.85 Ah, an energy density of 248 Wh L 21 , a specific energy of 102 Wh kg 21 , and a capacity retention of 85.8% after 190 charge-discharge cycles at~C/3 rate and eight mechanical loading cycles (upto 1060 N). The mechanical stiffness in three-point bend tests follows expectations based on sandwich beam theory, proving that the battery materials are sharing in the load-carrying function of the sandwich panel. While areas for improvement of the fabrication and performance of the prototype still exist, the results of the current investigation demonstrate the promising potential of the proposed structural battery concept for the efficient use of space and mass in an electric vehicle.

Multifunctional energy storage composite structures with embedded lithium-ion batteries

“…The multifunctional structural battery concept became an area of research interest almost two decades ago, with limited initial success [19][20][21][22]. However, researchers have since had further opportunities for advanced development of structurally integrated batteries (and capacitors and supercapacitors) following recent developments in tangentially-related technology fields, including material synthesis, characterization techniques, and computational modeling [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. The first group of efforts represented a holistic, top-down approach that aimed for shape, packaging, and load path optimization of off-the-shelf batteries.…”

“…The first group of efforts represented a holistic, top-down approach that aimed for shape, packaging, and load path optimization of off-the-shelf batteries. Approaches ranged from optimization of the directional arrangements of batteries to enhance their structural stability [22,30,41] to encasement of pre-packaged batteries in lightweight structural materials [19,25,26,31,32,42,43], and ingenious load path redirection techniques for improved crash absorption [35,44]. At a more fundamental material level, the second bottom-up approach aimed to modify the compositions or structures of the battery materials to enhance their mechanical robustness.…”

Flexible Nanofiber‐Reinforced Solid Polymer Lithium‐Ion Battery

“…The system‐level strategies for the production of multifunctional batteries from conventional cells offer limited performance benefits . In these strategies, the strength of conventional electrodes primarily relies on the mechanical properties of the metal foils, which suffer from mechanical fatigue and low ductility.…”

Electrolyte‐resistant epoxy for bonding batteries based on sandwich structures

“…Thus, the face sheets can provide high bending stiffness while the core material can maintain shear stiffness with low density. Such desirable mechanical performance has attracted the attention of researchers developing Li‐ion battery structures for the automotive and aerospace industries …”