As a result, new innovations in battery technology are beginning to open up new possibilities for not just the automotive industry, but for consumer electronics, wearables, drones and much more. Such industries are positioned for growth in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and supplying enough lithium to meet the growing demand through sustainable practices is posing a challenge.  

SEE ALSO: The Fuel of Tomorrow: Mining Lithium for Tomorrow’s Cars

New Developments in Lithium Batteries

Today, almost every automaker is invested in EVs, and it will be batteries and software, not brakes and engines, that will play a decisive role in the success of future fleets. The biggest challenge for battery manufacturers is to make a high-capacity battery that can charge in a short period of time, but still be lightweight and compact at the same time.

Solid-state lithium-ion batteries are lighter, more compact and safer than liquid-state batteries. (Source: UPS Battery Center)

Solid-state lithium-ion batteries are a feasible solution. These super-capacity batteries replace traditional semi-liquid electrolytes with solid electrolytes that allow for faster charging times (about 7 minutes) and are not susceptible to explosion on impact as liquid-state electrolytes are. Solid-state batteries can also operate in dynamic temperatures between -30 degrees Celsius and 100 degrees Celsius. Plus, they are far lighter and take up less space in an EV. Toyota has announced they will use solid-state lithium-ion batteries in their EVs starting from 2020.

Professor Yang’s flexible lithium-ion batteries are composed of stiff and flexible parts to resemble the human spine. (Source: eeNewsAnalog)

Besides cars, lithium-ion batteries are great for portable electronic devices, and a new invention looks to widen the applicability of the batteries. Assistant Professor Yuan Yang of Material Science and Engineering at Columbia University recently came up with a flexible type of lithium-ion battery that resembles the human spine. He first got the idea for the design while doing sit-ups at the gym when he noticed how his flexible spine allowed his body to move in various ways. Yang applied the idea to lithium-ion batteries by rearranging the traditional battery in a vertical structure made of stiff and flexible parts, just like the human spine. The end result was a flexible battery with more than 85 percent of the energy density found in a standard battery. The flexible and energy-dense batteries are expected to open up new possibilities for consumer technology designs and further accelerate the growing wearables market.

SolidEnergy Systems lithium-metal batteries are energy-dense and one of the smallest batteries available. (Source: Digital Trends)

There’s another up-and-coming invention that makes use of solid-state lithium batteries. SolidEnergy Systems recently received USD 34 million in funding to commercialize their lithium-metal batteries, bringing total funding to USD 50 million. The batteries have twice as much energy density as lithium-ion batteries, making them perfect for devices that have battery size limitations. By replacing graphite with lithium metal foil for the negative electrodes, the company was able to pack more energy into a smaller space. The resulting energy density is 450 watt hours per kilogram and 1200 watt hours per liter. For now, it is being sold to drone companies and the makers are working on lithium-metal batteries for wearables and EVs.

Sustainable Lithium Extraction

In the midst of development and advances in lithium batteries, the question to ask is where is all the lithium coming from, and is there enough to feed growing demand? The answer is yes, there is more than enough lithium in different parts of the world, but the problem is that there are not enough mines to extract all the lithium in demand.

Lithium is a growing source for jobs in South America due to the high demand. (Source: Twitter/@BrianDColwell)

More than half of the world’s lithium reserves are in South America, more specifically in Chile and Argentina, but Australia is the biggest producer. Even with new mines opening up at a frequent pace, lithium extraction isn’t easy. Political, social and environmental hurdles have led to unstable output. Coupled with the exponential growth of the EV market, the price of lithium carbonate has more than doubled from 2011 to 2016.

Another concern is the environmental impact of lithium extraction and production. Critics have pointed out that raw materials, such as lithium, used to produce eco-friendly batteries have a large carbon footprint on their own.

POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon holding lithium during his visit to PosLX, POSCO’s battery production factory in Korea.

That’s why earlier this year, steelmaker POSCO opened up PosLX, Korea’s first lithium plant, as part of the move to expand its non-steel businesses and make headways into the batteries market. The new plant has an annual production capacity of 2,500 tons and will use POSCO’s innovative technology, developed in-house. POSCO’s eco-friendly extraction technology entails extracting lithium from water, and takes anywhere between 8 hours up to a month to complete. Traditional evaporation methods take 12 to 18 months to produce the same amount. Moreover, POSCO’s technology can obtain a purity rate of 99.9 percent, as well as a recovery rate of over 80 percent.

In addition, POSCO has developed a way to extract lithium phosphate, a raw material of lithium carbonate, from used rechargeable batteries. The lithium carbonate produced from recycled secondary batteries are equal in purity, charge, discharge efficiency and capacity as existing lithium carbonate, but at a lower cost to the environment.  

SEE ALSO: POSCO’s Innovation Shapes the Ever-Growing Lithium Market

Going forward, POSCO plans to increase its lithium production capacity to 40,000 tons per year to supply the increasing demand from new-growth industries and ensure a sustainable future of renewable energy.

Cover photo courtesy of Cleantechnica.

Scientists predict 2018 may be a tumultuous year for earthquakes. (Source: Take Two)

As structural damage is the leading cause of injury and deaths during an earthquake, architects, engineers and builders need to make sure buildings are built with the right materials and design.  

SEE ALSO: What it Takes to Build a Natural-Disaster-Proof House

The Materials

The most dangerous type of earthquakes are ones that trigger horizontal movements, because tall buildings are better at resisting vertical loads than horizontal ones. These ground motions can damage building foundations in a matter of minutes, causing severe injuries and deaths. Building a structure to withstand seismic waves starts with the right materials with the right properties, and steel is by far the most widely used material for building earthquake-resistant buildings.

According to the World Steel Association, ductile buildings are safer as they dissipate energy from seismic waves. A building will typically have ductile parts that can undergo plastic deformations without complete structural failure during an earthquake. Steel is the most common type of material for such parts.

Moreover, due to the law of inertia, the lighter the building, the less force seismic waves will exert on the building. That’s why it’s important, especially for taller buildings, to be made of light and flexible materials such as steel that can “bend” with the movement of earthquakes. On average, multi-story steel buildings are 60 to 70 percent lighter and 10 times stronger than concrete-framed buildings of the same size.

The Design

With steel, builders can add vital designs and reinforcements to keep the structure standing through an earthquake. Here’s some of the most widely-used measures.

Cross braces transfer the force of an earthquake to the ground. (Source: Earthquakes in India)

The structural integrity of buildings can be reinforced with steel cross braces that frame the exterior of a building in an x-shape. Ultimately cross braces can transfer the force of seismic waves back down to the ground, instead of letting the building take the hit. Builders can also reinforce the walls of buildings with additional vertical walls, or shear walls, that add stiffness to the frame of the building, allowing it to resist swaying or horizontal movements.

Base isolators absorb much of the shock of seismic waves. (Source: Embelton)

Base isolation involves separating the building from the foundation so that the isolators to absorb shock from the earthquake. The isolators allow the building to move at a slower pace because they dissolve a large part of the shock. Moment-resisting frames also effectively dissipate energy from floors and roofs to the building’s foundation and the stiff yet flexible frames can change shape during an earthquake. Although more costly, moment-resisting frames enable buildings to withstand an earthquake with excessive horizontal movement.

Putting it into practice with POSCO’s Steel House

In September 2017, Young Bae Kim’s home in Gyeongju province, Korea was hit with a 5.8 magnitude earthquake, just 8.9 km from where the earthquake started. Surprisingly, Kim’s home was unscathed. “I could feel the ground shake, but the house was completely under control.” Kim expressed.

Kim lives in one of the Steel Houses built by POSCO employees who volunteer to build homes and bridges for communities in need. Each Steel House is made with POSCO’s lightweight structural steel known for its durability, fire resistance and vibration resistance. The homes also incorporate PosMAC, a specialized galvanized steel that is 5 to 10 times more corrosion-resistant than standard steel and is more durable and affordable.

POSCO Employees volunteer their time to build steel houses in rural communities.

Because all the Steel Houses survived the Gyeongju earthquake while other homes were damaged, more and more people in Korea are choosing steel for their homes over traditional building materials such as wood and concrete. The same trend can be observed in Japan, where earthquakes are much more frequent. In order to build more earthquake-resistant buildings, steel is still the best solution available.

Cover photo courtesy of CNN.