Grapevine

Manganese cathodes could boost lithium-ion batteries

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are growing in adoption, used in devices like smartphones and laptops, electric vehicles, and energy storage systems. But supplies of nickel and cobalt commonly used in the cathodes of these batteries are limited.

New research led by the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) opens up a potential low-cost, safe alternative in manganese, the fifth most abundant metal in the Earth's crust. Researchers showed that manganese can be effectively used in emerging cathode materials called disordered rock salts, or DRX.

The work was published Sept. 19 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

"There are many ways to generate power with renewable energy, but the importance lies in how you store it," said Han-Ming Hau, who researches battery technology as part of Berkeley Lab's Ceder Group and is a Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley.