Donal Hickey: Irish research on the next generation of sustainable batteries

Four countries — Australia, China, Chile, and Argentina — account for 90% of the production of Lithium. Sodium and potassium batteries are promising alternatives, sharing similar chemistries to lithium. Currently, Canada, Russia and Belarus dominate potassium production, accounting for 66%, in 2023

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are increasingly used in many products such as household electronics, toys, wireless headphones, handheld power tools, electric vehicles and electrical energy storage systems including data centres.

As sales of electric vehicles (EVs) rise globally, pressure is growing to replace lithium batteries used in EVs and data centres — and in products such as household electronics, toys, hand-held electrical tools, and wireless headphones.

With demand increasing massively for finite and non-renewable lithium, scientists are seeking alternative materials. Timely then that Amber researchers, Professor Jonathan Coleman and Professor Valeria Nicolosi, of Trinity College Dublin, have been awarded funding by the Sustainable Energy Authority for this purpose.

Professor Valeria Nicolosi is the Chair of Nanomaterials and Advanced Microscopy in Trinity College Dublin

Amid hopes of a ‘ground-breaking leap forward’, they are seeking the next generation of high-performance batteries beyond lithium, the most popular rechargeable battery today. All part of the effort to deliver Ireland's clean energy and climate ambitions.

Four countries account for 90% of lithium production, Australia, China, Chile and Argentina. There’s little mining of the resource in Europe, Portugal’s production accounting for just 0.21%, in 2023.

Demand for lithium is projected to reach more than three million tonnes by 2030: with the world producing 540,000 tonnes, in 2021, this would be nearly six-fold increase. Being confined to a few source countries, however, also leads to a risk of supply chain disruption.

Sodium and potassium batteries are promising alternatives, sharing similar chemistries to lithium. Currently, Canada, Russia and Belarus dominate potassium production, accounting for 66%, in 2023.

As industry seeks more sustainable alternatives to lithium, it is anticipated more countries will engage in sodium and potassium production, driven by increasing demand.

Professor Jonathan Coleman is a TCD Professor and head of the School of Physics. He was 2012 SFI researcher of the year and is ranked as one of the 100 top materials scientists globally of the last decade

Professor Coleman, head of TCD School of Physics, explained: “The relentless growth in demand for electrical energy has driven the widespread adoption of lithium-ion batteries as the primary portable energy storage device over the last three decades. However, the limitations of lithium and cobalt resources, including their low abundance, uneven distribution, and associated costs, have created a pressing need to explore alternative battery chemistries based on other elements beyond lithium."

Currently, sodium and potassium batteries have less energy storage than lithium and the TCD-based research will work on achieving improved performance with the alternatives.

The ambition is also to reduce lithium’s environmental footprint caused by mining, shipping, the manufacturing process and chemicals used in its production.

It is hoped that advancements in battery recycling will result in the extraction of less raw materials and thereby reduce environmental damage.

Meanwhile, demand for electrical goods powered by lithium batteries continues to grow. For example, worldwide sales of EVs rose by 25% last year, amounting to 17 million vehicles, with China up by 36%.

EV sales in Ireland dropped by 25% last year, but hit a new record this January, up 20% on the same period last year, or a total of almost 5,000 vehicles.