The project, “Actively Regulated Electrochemical Interfaces for Robust All-Solid-State Batteries Using Physics-Informed Learning,” aims to revolutionize all-solid-state batteries used for electric transportation, aviation and the grid.
Zeeshan Ahmad and Shu-Xia Tang, assistant professors in the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering (WCOE)Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, have been awarded a National Science Foundation grant (NSF) for $539,000 to improve the battery life of next generation all-solid-state batteries.
“Battery technology is essential to the success of renewable energy, which can be intermittent and therefore requires effective energy storage. With the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, batteries are also playing an increasingly important role in data centers by helping provide a reliable and steady power supply,” explains Song-Charng Kong, chair of the WCOE Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
Next-generation all-solid-state batteries have two key advantages over current batteries: they contain no flammable liquids, which makes them safer, and they store more energy within the same weight, which leads to a higher driving range for electric vehicles.
However, they have not yet achieved the cycle life necessary to replace current batteries.
“When quantifying battery performance, we talk about how many cycles the battery can be charged and discharged without significant degradation. For electric vehicle applications, for example, the battery needs to be able to produce at least 500 cycles to match or exceed the lifespan of gas-powered vehicles,” explains Ahmad. “Currently, all-solid-state batteries fail within 100 cycles, especially under fast charge or discharge rates. We are aiming to achieve over 500 cycles through this project.”
The challenge is that fast charging causes more rapid degradation of the battery, limiting its life. Most approaches to correct this issue focus on utilizing new materials.
While there are multiple degradation mechanisms, the most important one is contact loss at battery interfaces. During the charging and discharging process, the battery layers delaminate and lose surface connection.
Ahmad and Tang propose to use techniques from electrochemistry, controls and artificial intelligence (AI) to create batteries that essentially heal themselves. By monitoring the battery’s health in real-time, their proposed platform will automatically adjust the charging protocol to repair internal damage and extend the battery’s life.
“We will take the electrochemical physics rules that we know these batteries operate within and apply AI to fill in the unknowns. That combination of electrochemical and AI model will form the control that will monitor and inform the charging process. Our goal is to control the charging profile so that battery degradation is minimized,” adds Tang.
All-solid-state batteries are not commercially available yet. Ahmad and Tang expect that their work to address the degradation challenge will help make these batteries a viable solution, particularly within the electric vehicle and aviation markets.
In addition to the research and technology development work, Ahmad and Tang plan to develop a new course for engineering students that combines electrochemistry and controls together so that students gain more expertise in this area.