
AI-generated summary
The anode material, which determines the performance and lifespan of electric vehicle batteries, currently has a polycrystalline structure made up of many small grains, and when charging and discharging is repeated, cracks form between the grains and performance deteriorates. Accordingly, single-crystal cathode materials are attracting attention as an alternative, but during the manufacturing process, it is difficult for the particles to aggregate tightly and grow in size at the same time.
Joint research with Pohang University of Science and Technology and Kangwon National University
(Pohang = Yonhap News) Reporter Daeseong Son = A domestic research team has developed a method to increase the lifespan of cathode materials, a core material of secondary batteries, by sequentially introducing air and oxygen when baking them.
POSTECH announced on the 19th that Professor Kyung-deok Kim's research team in the Department of Eco-friendly Materials, along with Professor Young-jin Kim's research team in the Department of Battery Convergence Engineering at Kangwon National University, POSCO Holdings, and researchers at Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai, have found a way to control the degree to which particles grow and extend battery life by gradually changing the oxygen concentration in the process of firing the cathode material.
The anode material, which determines the performance and lifespan of electric vehicle batteries, currently has a polycrystalline structure made up of many small grains, and when charging and discharging is repeated, cracks form between the grains and performance deteriorates.
For this reason, single crystal anode materials, which are made up of one large lump from the beginning, are attracting attention as an alternative.
However, single-crystal cathode materials have the disadvantage of being difficult to make because the particles aggregate tightly and grow in size simultaneously while baking at a high temperature of around 950 degrees.
The research team developed a method of baking at 950 degrees for the first 4 hours with air to quickly cause the particles to clump together, and then using oxygen for the first 2 hours to hold the particles so they do not grow larger.
The cathode material made in this way became a solid single crystal with no gaps, and maintained 83.04% of its initial capacity even after repeated charging and discharging at 45 degrees 100 times.
The cathode material baked with only air or oxygen maintained about 77%.
Professor Kyeong-deok Kim said, “This research will be able to improve the existing cathode material manufacturing method, which has relied on trial and error.”
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
There is a possibility that this technology will be applied to commercialization of electric vehicle batteries in the future.
Possible · Within months

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