University of California San Diego researchers have used a disordered rock salt as a new anode material that takes minutes to safely recharge lithium-ion batteries. These batteries “can reversibly cycle two lithium ions at an average voltage of about 0.6 volts versus a Li/Li reference electrode,” Electronics Weekly reported.

The salt is Li3V2O5  is a disordered rock salt that increases potential compared to graphite. Using proper charging controls reduces the likelihood of lithium metal plating “alleviating a major safety concern (short-circuiting related to Li dendrite growth),” it noted.

This disordered rock salt performs more than 1,000 charge–discharge cycles with capacity decay is negligible and delivers more than 40% of its capacity in 20 seconds.

“We attribute the low voltage and high rate capability of disordered rock salt Li3V2O5 to a redistributive lithium intercalation mechanism with low energy barriers revealed via ab initio calculations. This low-potential, high-rate intercalation reaction can be used to identify other metal oxide anodes for fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries,” the researchers told Electronics Weekly.

The battery outlasts the lithium titanate and charges faster and safer than the graphite alternative. with at least 71% more energy than lithium titanate.

 “The capacity and energy will be a little bit lower than graphite, but it’s faster, safer and has a longer life,” say the researchers, “it has a much lower voltage and therefore much improved energy density over current commercialized fast charging lithium-titanate anodes. So with this material we can make fast-charging, safe batteries with a long life, without sacrificing too much energy density.“