Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, working with a spin-off company called 24M, have recently developed an advanced process for manufacturing lithium-ion batteries, which is not only expected to significantly reduce production costs, but also improve battery performance and make it easier to recycle .

　　The existing lithium-ion battery manufacturing method was invented 20 years ago, and is inefficient and cumbersome. Yet-Ming Chiang (transliteration), professor of ceramic technology at MIT, co-founder of 24M Company, and one of the former founders of A123 Battery Company, and his colleagues proposed the concept of "flow battery" five years ago. A suspension of fine particles acts as electrodes and is pumped around the battery. However, analysis shows that flow battery systems are suitable for low-energy-density batteries, which means an increase in cost for high-energy-density devices such as lithium-ion batteries.

　　To this end, Jiang Yeming's team improved the design, and the new version is called a "semi-solid battery": the electrode material does not flow and is a colloidal suspension similar to a semi-solid. According to a report by the Physicist Organization Network, unlike the standard process that requires adding a liquid coating to the substrate material and then waiting for the material to dry before starting the next process, the new method keeps the electrode material in a liquid state and does not need to be dried at all. The system reduces the number of layers and non-functional materials in traditional battery structures by 80% by using fewer but thicker electrodes.

　　Jiang Yeming said that the new process greatly simplifies the manufacturing process and can reduce production costs by half. The battery is flexible and more durable. It can be bent and folded and will not be damaged even if it is penetrated by bullets. This approach also allows for scaling up production, which he estimates will bring the cost per kilowatt hour of capacity to below $100 by 2020.

　　24M has already manufactured about 10,000 of these batteries on a prototype production line, most of which are being tested by three industrial partners, including an oil company in Thailand and Japanese heavy equipment manufacturer IHI Corporation. The new process has obtained 8 patents, and another 75 patents are under review.

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