April 2nd, 2023
Self-healing materials have the ability to automatically repair damages to themselves without any external diagnosis or intervention. Soon, they could be used in battery electrodes as well! This would impact the entire battery world – since everlasting cells definitely change the business for nearly every manufacturer.
Prof. Dr. Maitane Berecibar is an expert for self-healing cell properties and battery sensors. She is the head of the Battery Innovation Center in the MOBI research group at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Her expertise of the Battery Innovation Center includes emerging battery technologies, battery manufacturing, self-healing properties, sensor integration, modeling activities (electrochemical, thermal, electrical, lifetime), cooling system development, second life and safety. And that is what she is talking about.
The advantages of self-healing batteries and sensors are obvious: Very stable, sustainable, long-living, smart and safe batteries that provide valuable data for a secondary life. Sounds wonderful! But, Prof. Berecibar is not afraid of hiding the technology’s downsides: Right now, scientists are still developing concept lab cells, that are yet quite expensive, complex to build and difficult to understand.
One of the most significant questions for the battery industry remains unclear, though Is it possible to scale up self-healing battery production while implementing life-time prolonging properties to each and every existing cell chemistry, even individually? And, why would a battery manufacturer actually consider selling “forever batteries” in the first place (serious question!)?
