How can artificial intelligence (AI) be used to identify substitutes for lithium-ion batteries, which have been questioned regarding their resource availability and sustainability? This is what a recent study published in Cell Reports hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated how AI could be used to identify new methods for developing cost-effective substitutes for lithium-ion batteries. This study has the potential to help researchers and engineers expand alternative options for lithium-ion batteries.
For the study, the researchers used a series of machine learning algorithms and models with the goal of developing a multivalent-ion battery, which uses ions from elements that carry multiple charges, as opposed to lithium-ion batteries that only carry a single charge. Due to the increased number of elements, past studies have discovered this makes it difficult to estimate combinations. Therefore, the researchers turned to AI models to fast-track this process with impressive results.
“Our AI tools dramatically accelerated the discovery process, which uncovered five entirely new porous transition metal oxide structures that show remarkable promise,” said Dr. Dibakar Datta, who is an associate professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and a co-author on the study. “These materials have large, open channels ideal for moving these bulky multivalent ions quickly and safely, a critical breakthrough for next-generation batteries.”
Despite its aforementioned shortcomings, the lithium-ion battery market is projected to grow from approximately $195 billion in 2025 to $426 billion in 2033. Aside from the multivalent-ion battery presented in this study, other alternatives include zinc-based, lithium-sulfur, solid-state, and sodium-ion batteries. Therefore, this study demonstrates how alternatives to lithium-ion batteries is expanding while providing enhanced safety, sustainability, and energy efficiency.
How will AI help improve substitutes for lithium-ion batteries in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Cell Reports, EurekAlert!
Featured Image: Illustration depicting how different elements and their ions interact within the multivalent-ion battery. (Credit: New Jersey Institute of Technology)