Cathode Material Screening Model for Low-Cobalt Nickel-Rich Batteries
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Solution Overview
Problem
The development of novel cathode materials for secondary batteries is hindered by the need to minimize cobalt content and maximize nickel capacity, which is costly and time-consuming, and existing technologies lack efficient methods for predicting the performance of potential materials.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus, method, and computer program that utilize a cathode active material prediction model to select and develop candidates with desired performance by preprocessing data-sets, generating prediction models, and identifying suitable materials based on predetermined structures and performance indicators.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If conventional nickel-rich layered cathode materials (NCM, NCA) are used to maximize nickel capacity, then high capacity is achieved, but cobalt content cannot be minimized and supply chain problems persist
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the chemical composition parameters of the cathode material by introducing a fluorine-containing compound with the formula Li2-MxNi1+y-yx/2-y/4Fe3-y/4-y/8O3-Fz (where M is a transition metal). This parameter change allows achieving high nickel capacity (x ≥ 0.6) while incorporating fluorine (z > 0) to improve stability and reduce cobalt dependency, thus resolving the contradiction between maximizing nickel capacity and ensuring supply chain stability.
2Ease of manufacture
If novel cathode materials are developed through extensive experiments to minimize cobalt content, then low manufacturing cost is achieved, but development time and costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies preliminary action by conducting theoretical calculations (density functional theory) and preliminary experiments to identify the optimal fluorine-containing compound formula Li2-MxNi1+y-yx/2-y/4Fe3-y/4-y/8O3-Fz before full-scale development. This preliminary characterization of the compound's properties and performance allows the research team to proceed directly to targeted synthesis and testing, significantly reducing the time and cost of material development while ensuring low cobalt content (≤10 mol%).
3Stability of the object's composition
If fluorine content is increased to improve material stability, then guaranteed stability is achieved, but excess fluorine may degrade performance
Solution Approach 1:
The invention precisely controls the fluorine content parameter (z) in the compound Li2-MxNi1+y-yx/2-y/4Fe3-y/4-y/8O3-Fz to be greater than 0 but within an optimized range. The patent specifies that fluorine content should be sufficient to improve stability but not excessive to avoid performance degradation. This optimized parameter setting resolves the contradiction by finding the optimal fluorine content that provides guaranteed stability while maintaining excellent electrochemical performance.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for screening cathode active material candidates for secondary batteries, and may include a database constructing unit configured to receive a data-set labeled with properties of a cathode active material structure for secondary batteries; a pre-processing unit configured to pre-process a part of the data-set to a learning data-set; a prediction model generating unit configured to generate a cathode active material prediction model for predicting performance indicators of target materials that may be arranged to fit a predetermined structure based on the learning data-set; and a candidates generating unit configured to generate cathode active material candidates for secondary batteries based on a result of the cathode active material prediction model.