2023-07-17 09:30:20
The chemist Jean-Marie Tarascon presented his conference “Batteries in the context of sustainable development” in Orsay (91) on June 7th. What to take stock of their development in Europe.
“Lithium-ion technology is the greatest advance in electrochemistry of the last century”asserts Jean-Marie Tarascon in the Pierre Lehmann auditorium of the IJCLab laboratory, on the campus of the University of Paris-Saclay, on June 7th. “Pioneers John B Goodnough, Stam Whittingham and Akira Yoshina received the Nobel Prize in 2019 for their significant contribution to the development of this technology. »
Honored with the CNRS gold medal for his work on batteries in July 2022, Jean-Marie Tarascon is convinced that lithium remains the solution for the batteries of tomorrow. Invited to speak by the Paris-Sud section of the French Physical Society, he underlines the importance of placing their deployment in the context of energy transition and sustainable development. In this context, the researchers are looking in particular at improving their autonomy, their eco-compatibility, and their recycling.
Thinking about the gigafactories, the extraction and the refining of lithium
The replacement of the sale of new thermal vehicles by electric vehicles recorded at European level for 2035 imposes “ a dramatic expansion in annual battery production “says Jean-Marie Tarascon. To build them, the European Union plans around forty gigafactories on its territory, including four in France, by 2030. Europe would then represent 19% of the battery market, compared to barely 1% today.
“This will not be enough to have European sovereignty, because we have to import 96% of the materials used in Li-ion batteries and around 98% of assembly machines”, says the chemist. He pursues : “Most of the time, China is the destination for lithium refining. Rather than pushing on gigafactories alone, we should also worry about installing a refining and extraction industry. »
Battery composition at the heart of innovation
“Battery life will depend on the materials used at the positive and negative electrodes, explains Jean-Marie Tarascon. The material used for more than twenty years at the positive electrode is a cobalt oxide LiCo02 ». In laboratories, chemists seek to substitute this cobalt with nickel and manganese in order to increase its energy density, its stability and the number of cycles. “In electric vehicles, we are starting to put 8/1/1 compositions which are 80% nickel, 10% manganese and 10% cobalt”, says the scientist. Concerning the negative electrode, the accumulators use for the majority a natural or synthetic carbon. The researchers work here on composite materials of graphite and silicon.
To go even further, the researchers are looking at the all-solid-state battery. « This theoretically allows metallic lithium to be used, increasing system safety and gravimetric energy density [par rapport à sa masse, ndlr] by 40% or volumetric by +70% », calculates Jean-Marie Tarascon. Car manufacturers could install all-solid-state batteries in their cars by 2030. But they will still constitute a technological showcase by then. “They will still be much more expensive than conventional lithium-ion batteries”warns the researcher.
Launch a new recycling industry
“We will have to produce more mineral resources by 2050 than what we have produced since the beginning of humanity”, recalls Jean-Marie Tarascon. In particular, cobalt, nickel and lithium requirements are set to take off. In 2030, metal requirements for rechargeable batteries will account for more than 90% of lithium production, 75% of cobalt production and nearly 30% of nickel production. “This is a strong message for the development of an efficient recycling sector”, underlines the expert. Research is therefore increasing to rethink recycling processes and battery configuration.
At European level, the minimum rate of materials to be recycled for batteries will be 20% for cobalt, 10% for lithium and 12% for nickel. “Europe gives the directives, but not the technologies needed to be developed to achieve this, which is problematic”however regrets the researcher.
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