2021! Maxell Japan to be the First to Mass Produce Sulfide Based All-Solid-State Battery

[Shinoko]

 

 

Summary

In 2021, Maxell Japan will be the first in the world to start mass production of a coin type sulfide based all-solid-state battery. This battery was developed in Japan,  and implementation of manufacturing equipment for mass production started in October 2020, in Hyogo, Japan. The battery has a 20 year minimum performance stability, demonstrates superior performance from -50℃ (-58℉) to 125℃ (257℉), balances high input-output characteristics and high energy density despite its small size, and has strengthened supply capacity to meet sample requirements from various fields. Graphs and comparison charts in the links and attachments.

 

Quotes

Quote

 "...has succeeded in achieving the highest output" 

 

"In just 1 year, Maxell has improved its small coin type all-solid-state battery with sulfide based argyrodite-type solid electrolyte, to have 10 times higher*1 input-output characteristics"

 

"With the finalizing of specifications underway for its all-solid-state battery, Maxell Japan has begun installation of manufacturing equipment."

 

My thoughts

 I'm hyped to see where this new technology takes us. From what I understand, longer lasting, safer batteries may mean useful developments in the medical field. I feel like the world is filled with things that need a power source, and I notice I've been more conscious about buying gadgets that I can plug in and charge opposed to "runs on AA" products. Trying to be conscious of my carbon footprint and all. Curious on future implementation of this battery and what that means for longevity and sustainability in our everyday powered products. 

 

Sources

https://www2.maxell.co.jp/ 

https://biz.maxell.com/en/rechargeable_batteries/allsolidstate.html

MaxellJapanPressRelease.pdf

[RejZoR]

I'll believe it when I see it. Been reading for 20 years about all the amazing super advanced batteries and really they haven't changed much since 2000. Slightly better this and that, but ultimately they are still garbage.

[porina]

Seems like a niche battery for specific use cases. Website says it is 2.3v at 8mAh capacity. Nowhere do I see any mention of recharging, so this is presumably a primary cell. Selling point seems to be temperature stability and long life (assuming you don't need much power).

[Tristerin]

I wonder what we rape out of the earth to make these and if its worth it.  Lithium creates quite the environmental mess.

[Taf the Ghost]

1 hour ago, RejZoR said:

I'll believe it when I see it. Been reading for 20 years about all the amazing super advanced batteries and really they haven't changed much since 2000. Slightly better this and that, but ultimately they are still garbage.

CARBON NANOTUBES ARE THE FUTURE! ~ circa 2002

 

and 2008

 

and 2013

 

and 2018

 

A lot of things are the future! But I do hope some clever advances are coming in certain areas.

[StDragon]

2 hours ago, Tristerin said:

I wonder what we rape out of the earth to make these and if its worth it.  Lithium creates quite the environmental mess.

Actually, lithium isn't the problem. It's "mined" from a brine like solution that dries out in shallow pools. It's then harvested from the surface. A video explaining can be found here.

 

The actual toxic element in a lithium battery (NMC) is cobalt. It's used in electric vehicles and applications that need higher current draw.

[Loote]

They mention input-output, so I think charging-discharging in our terms.

 

Quote

Maxell’s all-solid-state battery is suitable for various applications,such as wearable devices which require higher output characteristics for BLE*4 communications, FA and IoT devices. Moving forward, Maxell will continue to offer its all-solid-state battery to new fields where high heat resistance and long-life characteristics are required, which have been difficult to achieve with conventional batteries

One of the comparisons has been for 60'C, which is close to what you'd get outside in summer without sun protection, being able to take such temps should make a big differenc for some applications.

 

Quote

Market research firm B3 Corp.estimates that 10 billion units of small-sized lithium-ion batteries will be shipped in 2021 and projects a compound annual growth rate of 10%*5per year from 2017 to 2025.

I wonder what's up with 2017 there, however, compared to other new battery technology, this one does seem to be on the way to big scale manufacturing already, they focus on small-sized in the doc, so it's not coming to laptops and the overall newness and patents surrounding this will mean high prices, but a 2 day battery life on airpods might become a thing thanks to this I think.

[Bombastinator]

4 hours ago, Tristerin said:

I wonder what we rape out of the earth to make these and if its worth it.  Lithium creates quite the environmental mess.

It certainly can do that.  Depends on where it’s coming from.

[Bombastinator]

1 hour ago, Loote said:

They mention input-output, so I think charging-discharging in our terms.

 

One of the comparisons has been for 60'C, which is close to what you'd get outside in summer without sun protection, being able to take such temps should make a big differenc for some applications.

 

I wonder what's up with 2017 there, however, compared to other new battery technology, this one does seem to be on the way to big scale manufacturing already, they focus on small-sized in the doc, so it's not coming to laptops and the overall newness and patents surrounding this will mean high prices, but a 2 day battery life on airpods might become a thing thanks to this I think.

You won’t see a two day life with 8ma.  This thing doesn’t sound either rechargeable or energy dense.  The holy grail atm is energy dense, solid state, and rechargeable. 

[RejZoR]

6 hours ago, Taf the Ghost said:

CARBON NANOTUBES ARE THE FUTURE! ~ circa 2002

 

and 2008

 

and 2013

 

and 2018

 

A lot of things are the future! But I do hope some clever advances are coming in certain areas.

Also graphene! Graphene everywhere! It'll revolutionize everything. aaaand nothing happened.

[williamcll]

This seems like a replacement for watch batteries, not smartphones. But hey at least it's not lithium.

[Bombastinator]

38 minutes ago, RejZoR said:

Also graphene! Graphene everywhere! It'll revolutionize everything. aaaand nothing happened.

The big big issue with carbon nanotubes is we can’t make them of arbitrary controlled lengths. The longest they get is a couple millimeters.  They also werent as useful for increasing surface area as hoped.  There were a few things but they weren’t massively groundbreaking.  We couldn’t make supercapcitors as good as batteries, but they could be used to make very fast supercapacitors.  They’re called “fastcaps”. They were also used to strengthen some metals.  Carbtanium was one example.

 

[Taf the Ghost]

1 hour ago, RejZoR said:

Also graphene! Graphene everywhere! It'll revolutionize everything. aaaand nothing happened.

One of my personal favorites is still 3D Printing. They were flat using it as a "magic printing device" in some advertisements around the time it was kicking off, in the "this is the future" type of advertising for other products. 3D Printing is amazing, but it's for Fabrication & Prototyping. And it's been on a steady improvement run, but it's clearly through the main S-curve it offers for improvements.

 

[RejZoR]

34 minutes ago, Taf the Ghost said:

One of my personal favorites is still 3D Printing. They were flat using it as a "magic printing device" in some advertisements around the time it was kicking off, in the "this is the future" type of advertising for other products. 3D Printing is amazing, but it's for Fabrication & Prototyping. And it's been on a steady improvement run, but it's clearly through the main S-curve it offers for improvements.

 

3D printing was advertised as this magic bullet for manufacturing too. But it clearly isn't useful for mass production where injection moulding is way faster and more reliable. It is great for prototyping and tetsing as you odn't have to make stupid expensive moulds every time just for a test run.

[porina]

3 hours ago, williamcll said:

But hey at least it's not lithium.

The diagram on OP shows a lithium ion. I take it the novel nature of this battery stems from the solid electrolyte.

[Spindel]

I hope this comes to phones soon. Finally a battery thet don't get permanently damaged in wintertime when you happened to have your phone anywhere else than in a pocket close to your body. 

 

Back in the Ni-Mh and Ni-Cd days of phone batteries the battery time was crap when it was cold but at least that wasn't permanent once you got into room temperature. With the move to Li-ion (of all different types) you can have one misstep and you permanently will damage the battery. 

 

Still remember my iPod Mini, had it in the inner pocket of my winter coat for a 40 min walk in -15°C one time, after that episode the battery only lasted 40 min no matter how much I charged it. Guess the innerpocket of my winter coat was to far away from the body and it got below freezing. 

[Mling]

its not your carbon footprint. Its your landfil toxic waste. I won't be buying an electric car until the batteries last longer or can be safely recycled.

[RejZoR]

1 minute ago, Mling said:

its not your carbon footprint. Its your landfil toxic waste. I won't be buying an electric car until the batteries last longer or can be safely recycled.

My car carbon footprint is so small it doesn't even blip on any radar. I mean, I've had my car for 10 years and done 50k kilometers on it. I probably make more CO2 just by breathing than I'll ever do with my car lol. Not to mention car being this old, it still runs perfectly. I very much doubt 10 years old battery powered cars will, seeing how pretty much all 10 years old hybrids have shot batteries. You'd have to seriously micromanage battery charging to make them last. And if you don't, you're set back for what, 8-12k € for new battery pack? Not even total engine rebuild or swap would ever cost that in petrol car.

[Mling]

2 minutes ago, RejZoR said:

My car carbon footprint is so small it doesn't even blip on any radar. I mean, I've had my car for 10 years and done 50k kilometers on it. I probably make more CO2 just by breathing than I'll ever do with my car lol. Not to mention car being this old, it still runs perfectly. I very much doubt 10 years old battery powered cars will, seeing how pretty much all 10 years old hybrids have shot batteries. You'd have to seriously micromanage battery charging to make them last. And if you don't, you're set back for what, 8-12k € for new battery pack? Not even total engine rebuild or swap would ever cost that in petrol car.

Yea I have looked at second hand nissan leaf. They price them on how much life is left in the battery. There is not much to the cars themselves. No oil changes. Electric motors will last longer than a petrol, i think. For now they are good for sports cars. The new electric mustang has 1400HP. I'm hoping batteries will be better when electric trucks come out. Electric trucks are going to have more torque than a v8 land cruiser.

[Doobeedoo]

I mean awesome. Though I'm so done reading about new battery research and tech for so very long, without seeing anything even near soon enough to be seen in consumer space. We still rely on utter garbage battery tech daily. The most stagnant tech I can think of.

[Taf the Ghost]

9 hours ago, RejZoR said:

3D printing was advertised as this magic bullet for manufacturing too. But it clearly isn't useful for mass production where injection moulding is way faster and more reliable. It is great for prototyping and tetsing as you odn't have to make stupid expensive moulds every time just for a test run.

Yeah, 3D printing is a godsend for development. An engineer friend tagged it as a 50x improvement in time for certain aspects of early stage development. The fact they can CAD and Print something in a day that used to take weeks to get back changes the game. It let's you work through problems rather than having to spend a lot of time triple checking the engineering and hoping you caught everything.

 

There is still a lot of space for high-end, metal printing for really complex parts. But you're talking Rocket Engine bits where it makes sense. It's amazing, but it's still not the world-changer/Star Trek Replicator. 

[unsorted]

On 12/18/2020 at 9:05 AM, Shinoko said:

I notice I've been more conscious about buying gadgets that I can plug in and charge opposed to "runs on AA" products.

Devices that plug in and charge an internal lithium-ion battery also need their batteries replaced if you are going to use the device longer-term.

 

The batteries degrade with normal use, and their charge capacity is drastically reduced. Also high heat degrades them. Storing them fully charged or fully discharged for a while also degrades them (they prefer the 'middle ground' of 40-50% charge). Some of them even expand and destroy the devices they are in, much like leaky disposable batteries can destroy their devices.

 

For AAs and AAAs it's as easy as using eneloop (or whatever rechargeable battery you desire). My earliest eneloops are from 2006. Still going strong. Devices that take AAs and AAAs are often preferred here. Of course we don't see many phones and tablets using these for obvious reasons, but they are preferred.

 

Being the Landfill Economy, manufacturers purposely make it hard to remove internal batteries these days. Even less reason to like them. Again being the Landfill Economy of Peak Waste, I am very doubtful of any new battery technology that promises at lot. But we'll see.

 

 

 

 

[Shinoko]

Thanks all! This has been super informative.