Li-ion battery (LIB) cathodes (LFP, NMC)

LFP offer lots of benefits compared to lead-acid batteries and other lithium batteries such as long life span, no maintenance, extremely safe, lightweight, improved discharge and charge efficiency. Also, high Nickel NMC and Mn-rich layered oxides are commercially the most interesting candidates for the premium LIB for electric vehicles. We directly collaborate with the many leading industry partners to commercialize the high-energy LIB.

We investigate Li ion insertion kinetics using various LIB cathode materials. The local current and lithium concentration within the individual battery active particles determines the local stress and cycle life. Our group develops state-of-art x-ray microscopy techniques to take the video of lithium movement at nanometer scale.

Representative papers

-H. Hyun et al., Energy & Environmental Science (2023)        - B. Koo#, J. Chung#, J. Kim# et al., Energy & Environmental Science (2023) 

-S. Jo et al., Advanced Materials, 35, 2207076 (2023).           - H. Hyun et al., Advanced Materials, 2105337 (2021)          

-J. Lim et al., Science, 353, 566 (2016)

Li-ion battery (LIB) anodes (Li-metal anode, silicon anode and conversion anode)

LIB industry is now paying special attention to the lithium metal electrode because its energy density is ten times higher than the conventional graphite anode. However, the cycle-life of lithium metal anode remains poor because lithium metal is not stable in conventional electrolytes and grows sharp dendrites. We bring a special solution to this problem.

Representative papers

-J. Moon et al., Nature Communications, 13:4538 (2022)          -J. Han et al., ACS Appl. Mater. Inter, 13, 52202 (2021)

All-solid-state batteries (ASSBs)

It is a "dream" battery for humankind. ASSBs attain very much attention as a next-generation energy storage devices because of their high energy density and improved safety. However, when solid-electrolyte and solid active electrodes are confined in the fixed-volume battery container, it triggers very strong internal stress, which is hard to control and understand. In addition, we simply do not understand how ASSBs are working... Please stay tuned to how we solve this issue. We closely collaborate with leading industry partners on this problem.

Representative papers

-I. Na et al., ACS Energy Letters, 8, 4, 1936-1943 (2023).           -K. Yoon, H. Kim et al., Applied Physics Reviews, 9, 031403 (2022)