Samsung doubles lithium ion battery capacity

Samsung researchers have developed materials that double the power capacity of lithium-ion batteries.

Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) said the technology uses silicon cathode material coded with high-crystalline graphene to produce batteries with twice as much capacity as ordinary lithium-ion batteries.

The institute said the research result was published in the international science journal Nature Communication on Thursday.

The research team said the new technology is expected to enhance the performance of mobile devices and electric vehicles.

"The research has dramatically improved the capacity of lithium-ion batteries by applying a new synthesis method of high-crystalline graphene to a high-capacity silicon cathode," said Son In-hyuk, a professional researcher at SAIT. "We will continue to improve the secondary cell technology to meet the expanding demand from mobile device and electric vehicle markets."

The lithium-ion battery was introduced in 1991 and its storage capacity has been gradually improved. But the material's properties have limited improvements to capacity, failing to follow skyrocketing demand from the mobile and electric car industries.

Consequently, researchers worldwide have accelerated the development of materials for a high-capacity battery that can fundamentally overcome the limitations in graphite material.

One of them is silicon, which is expected to realize more than 10 times the power capacity compared with graphite. But the research has faced serious technological problems over drastic degradation of battery life.

SAIT said its researchers turned to graphene, a relatively new material that is physically strong and highly conductive, to solve this problem.

This material has up to four times the capacity compared with graphite and can double the energy density of ordinary lithium-ion batteries, the institute said.

Patents covering the new technology have been applied for in Korea, China, Europe and the United States.

BMW Developing Future Batteries with Samsung SDI

BMW announced that it is developing future batteries with Samsung SDI. Also, it will use a Samsung SDI battery in its PHEV model of the BMW 3 series.

During its annual press conference in Munich, Germany, on March 18, BMW Automotive Group's purchasing division head Klous Draeger said, “We are in a very good relationship with Samsung. Last year, we signed an MOU for long-term cooperation with Samsung. Currently, we are developing future batteries together.”

He continued, “We are not sure if we would cooperate with other companies in the future. The only thing we are certain of is that we are in good cooperating relationship now. In five or 10 years, if we produce too many electric cars and demand exceeds supply, only then might we consider getting batteries from other companies. At the moment, we have no plan to get batteries from other firms.”

This is a very rare case that a high-ranking executive in the BMW Group mentioned particular batteries in an annual press conference. The industry believes that the BMW Group is working hard for cooperation with Samsung SDI.

Draeger said, “We will use Samsung SDI’s batteries in our plug-in hybrid electric vehicles based on its compact sedan 3 series next year.”

In July last year, Samsung SDI signed an MOU with BMW Group at BMW Driving Center on Yeongjong Island, Incheon, to supply electric car batteries worth trillions of won in the medium and long term. At that time, the two companies mentioned only the supply deal of Samsung SDI batteries for BMW's i3 and i8 models.

Samsung Group’s venture capital arm recently led a $17 million round of financing for Solid State Lithium Ion battery maker Seeo Inc. California-based Seeo currently has cells (though not in use commercially) capable of operating with an energy density of 350 Wh/Kg (watt-hour per kilogram), but it’s now targeting 400 Wh/Kg — around double that used in most electric vehicles today.

Samsung SDI is also currently supplying electric vehicle batteries to Chrysler and Mahindra of India.