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Japan trials a new type of lithium battery that does not require rare metal cobalt
Matsushita Electric Co., Ltd. of Japan recently announced that its technical team, in collaboration with researchers from Kyoto University, has developed a groundbreaking lithium battery material that eliminates the need for cobalt, a rare and costly metal. This innovation marks a significant step forward in battery technology, as it could reduce production costs and lessen dependency on scarce resources.
Led by Matsushita's engineers and Professor Ryoichi Yoshida from Kyoto University, the research team created a new organic material using lithium and carbon. This material leverages unique chemical properties to overcome a major challenge in lithium-ion batteries: the dissolution of organic electrodes during ion movement in electrolytes. By solving this issue, they successfully produced a lithium battery without relying on cobalt as an electrode component.
According to the study, the new battery demonstrates performance comparable to traditional cobalt-based batteries, maintaining the same energy capacity. Furthermore, tests showed that after 100 charge-discharge cycles, the battery's capacity loss remains below 20%, indicating strong stability.
The researchers are now focused on further refining the material to extend the battery's lifespan to between 500 and 1,000 cycles before moving toward commercial production. This development could have wide-ranging implications for electric vehicles, renewable energy storage, and consumer electronics, offering a more sustainable and cost-effective alternative to current battery technologies. (Reporter: Le Shaoyan)