Conference Session A10
2
Disclaimer — This paper partially fulfills a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering students at the
University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. This paper is a student, not a professional, paper. This paper is
based on publicly available information and may not be provide complete analyses of all relevant data. If this paper is used
for any purpose other than these authors’ partial fulfillment of a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering
students at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, the user does so at his or her own risk.
INNOVATIONS WITH BATTERIES
Joseph Dowd, jvd18@pitt.edu, Mahboobin 10:00
Nick Gaydos, nag63@pitt.edu, Sanchez 10:00
REVISED PROPOSAL –
Innovation is happening at a faster rate than ever, and most
of this new technology will require a power source. Thus, new
and better power sources must be created. The ideal power
source will be able to provide energy for all of these sources,
while also being as mobile as the device it is powering. A new
battery is needed, ideally one that is long lasting, has a higher
power density, and can be recharged.
There are different types of batteries that are better for
each of those three things. Lithium ion batteries have some of
the best power densities, being several volts higher than
others. However, they don’t last incredibly long, only capable
of going through a couple thousand cycles at most [1].
Lithium is also not incredibly abundant on earth, so
eventually we will run out of it. Sodium ion batteries could be
an alternative source to lithium, as they share most of the
same properties as a lithium ion battery except sodium is
more abundant in nature. A downside of the sodium batteries
is that they don’t have the same level of power density, but
that is made up for with its availability. Nickel hydrogen
batteries can last much longer than lithium ion batteries,
maintaining power for over twenty thousand cycles. They
don’t have the same level of power density though, as they
have an average density compared to most batteries [2]. The
problem is finding a battery that will do all of the necessary
tasks as well as having an abundant source of material to
make it.
The key is to find the properties that will allow for all of
the different properties that will make an ideal battery in one
single compound. This will involve testing many different
compounds for their ability to achieve this goal. The process
of improvement could be long, but will be worth it when there
is eventually a battery that can last years and power many
different technologies. There are several possible alternative
batteries options as opposed to the ones people use today but
which new technology should be the one to replace current
lithium ion battery. This paper will explore new and
upcoming battery types to determine which battery
technology makes the most sense to switch to.
[1]Oliveira, L., Messagie, M., Rangaraju, S., Sanfelix, J.,
Rivas, M. H., & Mierlo, J. V. (2015). Key issues of lithiumion batteries - from resource depletion to environmental
performance indicators. Journal of Cleaner Production,
108(A), 354-362. Retrieved from EBSCOhost database.
(Accession No. 110348359)
[2]Smithrick, J. J., & O'Donnell, P. M. (1995, January).
Nickel hydrogen batteries - an overview. Retrieved from
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/1995001
0446.pdf
SOURCES CONSULTED
Anani, A., Visintin, A., Petrov, K., Srinivasan, S., Reilly, J.
J., Johnson, J. R. Desch, P. B. (1994). Alloys for hydrogen
storage in nickel/hydrogen and nickel/metal hydride batteries.
Journal
of
Power
Sources,
47(3),
261-275.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0378-7753(94)87005-5
Jung, Y. S., Oh, D. Y., Nam, Y. J., & Park, K. H. (2015).
Issues and Challenges for Bulk-Type All-Solid-State
Rechargeable Lithium Batteries using Sulfide Solid
Electrolytes. Israel Journal Of Chemistry, 55(5), 472-485.
doi:10.1002/ijch.201400112
Juan, P., Xiaohong, W., Tianyi, Z., Siwei, L., Jinghe, L.,
& Kyriakos, K. (2016). High-energy-density, all-solid-state
microsupercapacitors with three-dimensional interdigital
electrodes of carbon/polymer electrolyte composite.
Nanotechnology,
27(4),
1.
doi:10.1088/09574484/27/4/045701
Yun, J., Kim, D., Lee, G., & Ha, J. (2014). All-solid-state
flexible micro-supercapacitor araays with patterned
graphene/MWNT electrodes. Carbon, 79, 156-164.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2014.07.055
Chandler, D. (2015, August 17). Going solid-state could
make batteries safer and longer-lasting. MIT News. Retrieved
from
http://news.mit.edu/2015/solid-state-rechargeablebatteries-safer-longer-lasting-0817
Ramos, A., Camean, I., Cuestra, N., & Garcia, A. B.
(2015). Is single layer graphene a promising anode for
sodium-ion batteries? Electrochimica Acta, 178, 392-397.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2015.08.019
REFERENCES
University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering
2016/01/29
1
Nicholas Gaydos
Joseph Dowd
storage in nickel/hydrogen and nickel/metal hydride batteries.
Journal
of
Power
Sources,
47(3),
261-275.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0378-7753(94)87005-5
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Oliveira, L., Messagie, M., Rangaraju, S., Sanfelix, J., Rivas,
M. H., & Mierlo, J. V. (2015). Key issues of lithium-ion
batteries - from resource depletion to environmental
performance indicators. Journal of Cleaner Production,
108(A), 354-362. Retrieved from EBSCOhost database.
(Accession No. 110348359)
This article, from a peer reviewed journal on the
topic of power sources, discusses the different possible alloy
combinations that can be used in nickel hydrogen/hydride
batteries to increase the amount of hydrogen that can can be
stored by the battery. It discusses two specific possible alloy
arrangements to achieve this end.
Here is an article created for the “Journal of Cleaner
Production. Several groups of different disciplines came
together to produce this article about a common connection
between them all, batteries. The article explores several issues
with using Lithium-Ion batteries. These issues include a bad
environmental impact and major resource depletion. We will
utilize this article to help elaborate on the issues with societies
current battery sources.
Juan, P., Xiaohong, W., Tianyi, Z., Siwei, L., Jinghe, L., &
Kyriakos, K. (2016). High-energy-density, all-solid-state
microsupercapacitors with three-dimensional interdigital
electrodes of carbon/polymer electrolyte composite.
Nanotechnology,
27(4),
1.
doi:10.1088/09574484/27/4/045701
This peer reviewed journal article discusses a
specific type of micro supercapacitor that can be used for
energy storage and use. It talks about a solid state micro
supercapacitor with graphene and polymer electrolytes. These
capacitors have shown promise when used in conjunction
with some battery types to create a very effective battery.
Jung, Y. S., Oh, D. Y., Nam, Y. J., & Park, K. H. (2015).
Issues and Challenges for Bulk-Type All-Solid-State
Rechargeable Lithium Batteries using Sulfide Solid
Electrolytes. Israel Journal Of Chemistry, 55(5), 472-485.
doi:10.1002/ijch.201400112
Yun, J., Kim, D., Lee, G., & Ha, J. (2014). All-solid-state
flexible micro-supercapacitor arrays with patterned
graphene/MWNT electrodes. Carbon, 79, 156-164.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2014.07.055
This article, from the Journal of Chemisty, explores
the dangers of current lithium-ion batteries but moves on to
explain how to fix the current issues with lithium batteries to
make it more feasible to continue switching to an alternative
battery source. One major issue expressed in this article is the
flammability of liquid electrolytes within current lithium
batteries. This article can be used to explore the possibility of
improving the current battery technologies rather than
switching to another.
This peer reviewed journal article is about the
applications of graphene used on solid state supercapacitors
to increase their effectiveness in areas such as
recharge/discharge rates, power density and total capacitance.
This can be used to help create a battery system that is more
effective than a regular battery on its own.
Smithrick, J. J., & O'Donnell, P. M. (1995, January). Nickel
hydrogen batteries - an overview. Retrieved from
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/1995001
0446.pdf
Ramos, A., Camean, I., Cuestra, N., & Garcia, A. B. (2015).
Is single layer graphene a promising anode for sodium-ion
batteries?
Electrochimica
Acta,
178,
392-397.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2015.08.019
For this article, two researchers from the NASA
Lewis Research Center collaborated on a research project to
provide a thorough overview on various options of nickelhydrogen battery designs. This paper also reviews technical
accomplishments with batteries. There is more than one
battery design with nickel and hydrogen, each design has its
own specific applications and usefulness. This research can
be applied to our paper to show some current battery designs
and the advantages as well as disadvantages to the different
battery types.
This source is an article from Electrochimica Acta
discussing sodium ion batteries. It describes the way that a
graphene layer on the battery would allow the sodium charge
density and and capacity, making it a viable option to replace
lithium ion batteries. Sodium ion batteries are much cheaper
to make and more environmentally friendly making them an
ideal alternative.
Chandler, D. (2015, August 17). Going solid-state could make
batteries safer and longer-lasting. MIT News. Retrieved from
Anani, A., Visintin, A., Petrov, K., Srinivasan, S., Reilly, J.
J., Johnson, J. R., . . . Desch, P. B. (1994). Alloys for hydrogen
2
Nicholas Gaydos
Joseph Dowd
http://news.mit.edu/2015/solid-state-rechargeable-batteriessafer-longer-lasting-0817
The news article from MIT News explains how
researchers at MIT and Samsung are developing a new type
of battery that proves to be a valid alternative battery type to
those used today. This new technology does away with the
use of highly flammable liquid transferred electrolytes. In
addition to the safeness of the battery, the life expectancy is
put over one hundred thousand recharges and it is expected to
last even longer than that. This batteries are know as solid
state batteries. This source fits into our paper as one of the
potential emerging technologies that could eventually be the
battery to replace lithium-ion type batteries.
3