Particle sizing: your superpower in battery innovation
Has there ever been a more exciting time to work in energy storage? Our societies are demanding ever more battery power that’s faster-charging, more efficient, lighter, and safer. The result: innovation is taking off at lightning speed!
But from the most promising future battery technologies (Solid State, Li-S, Na/Al ion etc.) to the commercialized lithium-ion batteries (LFP and NCM chemistries), every researcher and producer needs to optimize their materials if they want their cells to hit those goals of being fast, efficient, and safe. And optimizing the battery performance means starting right at the beginning with the electrode materials.
The big benefits of small particles
It’s not only the chemical composition of the electrode materials that makes the difference in battery performance, the particle size and its statistical distribution make a big impact as well on both the production process and the battery’s final performance. Let’s explore why.
The first question is the simplest: big or small? Smaller particles offer a larger surface area overall, which means more contact with the electrolyte – enabling higher power density, as the cell can be discharged fast. Smaller particles also enable ions to move more quickly, leading to faster charging times, and are even better able to dissipate heat thanks to their larger surface area.
But there’s a catch: smaller particles are also more prone to wear and tear, making them less resilient over time and possibly reducing the battery’s durability. Larger particles on the other hand provide battery energy capacity, but suffer from slow chanrging and poor heat dissipation. For this reason, it’s important to measure and control the particle size so as to maintain a fine balance between these opposing factors.
Safe, predictable… and exciting
Not only the average particle size is important, is equally important to measure and control the Particle size distribution (PSD) – the deviation from the mean particle size. Too broad a distribution is mostly undesirable as that may lead to inconsistent performance. However, a mix of large and fine particles is sometimes needed to achieve optimal battery performance.
A uniform and well-defined PSD helps to ensure consistent electrochemical reactions across all particles, leading to predictable energy storage and discharge rates and consistent battery performance. presence of very large or very small particles may cause localized over- or under-charging leading to faster battery degradation, and therefore a reduced lifespan. This is also true of ion diffusion, as smaller particles enable more rapid ion diffusion and thus faster charging/discharging rates. Optimizing this across the battery helps to maintain stable and reliable charging times.
Heat management is reliant on particle size distribution, too – and of course, it’s also safety-critical. An uneven PSD could create localized hotspots, which in the worst-case scenario could be dangerous during operation. At the very least, they will lead to more rapid degradation and a shorter battery lifespan.
But the good news is that, with the right analytical strategy and tools, optimizing PSD isn’t a struggle – it’s your superpower in creating the batteries of the future!
Trust and innovation – the perfect combination for particle sizing
So, what’s the best approach to achieving and maintaining the optimal PSD? Traditional methods of particle sizing, such as sieving, sedimentation, and microscopy, tend to be either slow or inaccurate – or both. In today’s fast-paced industry, as gigafactories spring up around the world to meet skyrocketing demand, a better solution is needed.
The Mastersizer 3000 particle sizer, based on the principles of Laser Diffraction, meets this need perfectly, as laser diffraction delivers highly accurate PSD measurements much more quickly than any other method. The Mastersizer’s versatile capabilities make it suitable for use with both wet and dry dispersions, with particles ranging from the nanometer to millimeter scales.
Laser diffraction on the Mastersizer 3000 delivers operator-independent measurements with much less time and effort than traditional methods – unlocking the full potential of today’s rapidly innovating battery landscape. Already a trusted ‘household’ name within the industry, the Mastersizer 3000 offers both the benefits of an established method and the flexibility needed to prepare for the future.
Explore all our analytical solutions for battery research and production in our brochure here.
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