Meeting Li-ion Battery Demand with Improved Raw Material Analysis by ICP-OES and ICP-MS

 Meeting Li-ion Battery Demand with Improved Raw Material Analysis by ICP-OES and ICP-MS

by Simon Nelms, ICP-MS Product Specialist, Trace Elemental Analysis, Thermo Scientific UK

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are one of the most important power storage materials available today and have enabled the widespread manufacture and adoption of portable electronic devices. The excellent properties of Li-ion batteries are responsible for their success: their superior energy density, high storage capacity, and relatively low cost mean the batteries are long-lasting and economically viable to manufacture.

Even now, Li-ion battery use is growing faster than ever. The green energy revolution is encouraging the transition from traditional vehicles to hybrids and fully electric vehicles (EVs), and Li-ion batteries are the current standard technology for their power source. With the growth of EVs expected to increase 10-fold over the next decade, reaching 300 million electric cars on the road by 2050,1 it is imperative to ensure adequate lithium supply. Yet current lithium sources will be unable to meet this demand, hindering progress toward greener transport. It is, therefore, crucial to explore and make accessible additional natural resources of lithium to meet global initiatives on sustainability and green energy. Currently untapped resources, however, may consist of lower lithium levels and higher levels of impurities, needing better analytical techniques to confirm their viability for extraction and subsequent Li-ion battery production.   

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