The University of Oxford is to lead a new £3 million project to develop novel cathode materials for future lithium-ion batteries. This could unlock a range of improvements that include better battery performance, improved energy density, reduced cost and a lower environmental footprint. Ultimately, this could significantly advance progress towards Net Zero by boosting the range and power available to electric vehicles.
Professor Robert House is Principal Investigator for the 3D-CAT project. Credit: Robert Spanring.This new project is part of a major investment by the Faraday Institution - the UK's independent institute for electrochemical energy storage research. The 3D-CAT project will bring together researchers at the University of Oxford and UCL, besides industry partners, to directly address a key industry challenge. Specifically, it's aim is to develop viable lithium battery cathode materials that do not require cobalt and nickel - both of which are expensive, and associated with environmental and supply chain concerns.
Strong existing candidates include lithium iron phosphate and lithium manganese iron phosphate cathodes, however these have lower energy densities than cathodes using cobalt and nickel. There is an urgent need to develop new cathode materials that can match the performance of cobalt- and nickel-based cathodes without requiring costly, geographically-concentrated precursors or impractical production processes. The 3D-CAT project will address this by progressing from first-principles design through to prototype synthesis and validation in test systems.
One particularly promising direction is lithium-rich disordered rocksalts, where lithium and transition metal atoms are arranged in a disordered rock-salt crystal structure. These materials can achieve high energy densities, but so far, they suffer from poor rate performance (how quickly a battery can charge and discharge) and other drawbacks. They are also usually produced by ball-milling, a method that uses a lot of energy and cannot be scaled easily.
This funding will enable us to develop a deeper understanding of local structure in disordered Li-rich cathodes and unlock the full potential of this novel class of battery materials for commercial use.
Professor Robert House , Department of Materials
Recent work led by the Faraday institution's CATMAT project (coordinated by Professor Saiful Islam, Department of Materials) and others has revealed that introducing partial ordering of lithium and transition metal atoms in these materials can dramatically improve lithium-ion transport. This finding opens the way for a new class of lithium-rich three-dimensional cathode (3DC) materials that combine high performance with scalable, energy-efficient manufacturing.
Over the next three years, 3D-CAT will work to develop a comprehensive understanding of how local ordering in Li-rich 3DC cathodes can be optimised to maximise lithium-ion transport and rate capability, including the impact of different particle sizes and morphologies. By exploiting Oxford's world-class research facilities in the Centre for Energy Materials Research (CEMR) and the Materials Modelling Laboratory (MML), the team will develop successive generations of prototype cathode materials and validate their performance in test systems.
This project brings together brilliant minds, cutting-edge science and strong partnerships with industry to tackle one of today's most pressing challenges-how to store energy cheaply and efficiently.
Professor Jim Naismith, Head of the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division
Alongside this, the team will develop sustainable, low-cost and energy-efficient synthesis routes for these new materials and investigate how conductive coatings could improve rate capability and long-term performance.
Professor Robert House (Department of Materials), Principal Investigator for 3D-CAT, said: '3D-CAT is an exciting opportunity to develop innovative new Li-ion cathode materials to support the British battery industry. I am delighted to have the support of the Faraday Institution and our expert industry partners to deliver our vision.'
3D-CAT involves various industry partners that are uniquely positioned to support different stages of the materials development and commercialisation process, ensuring the project aligns with industry needs. Partners include the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) where experts at the AMBIC materials battery scale-up facility will help the team develop a synthesis route suitable for large-scale production.
Professor Robert House showing Faraday Institution interns an X-ray diffractometer and the setup he uses for operando battery measurements.
Credit: Faraday Institution.Besides 3D-CAT and CATMAT, the University of Oxford also leads four other of the Faraday Institution's flagship projects on battery research; Nextrode (led by Professor Patrick Grant , Department of Materials), SafeBATT (led by Professor Paul Shearing , Department of Engineering Science), SOLBAT (led by Professor Mauro Pasta , Department of Materials), and LiSTAR (led by Professor Paul Shearing, Department of Engineering Science). Oxford is also a partner in various other Faraday projects.
Professor Jim Naismith , Head of the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division, said: 'Oxford is proud to be leading the way in developing the next generation of battery materials. This project brings together brilliant minds, cutting-edge science and strong partnerships with industry to tackle one of today's most pressing challenges-how to store energy cheaply and efficiently. It's a great example of how world-class research in our Division is delivering real benefits for everyone and the UK economy.'
Further information about 3D-CAT can be found on the project's website .
