Lithium Ion Battery and Chme Car

Lithium-ion battery optimization of active material is crucial due to the materials utilized in current lithium-ion battery technology. The cathode active material is typically constructed of nickel, manganese, and cobalt in varying molar percentages, but rich Nickel cathodes, such as NCM 523 and NCM 811, has been attracting increasing attention. However, high ratios of Nickel in cathode will occupy the cation mixing to decrease the battery stability performance. A novel and facile polymer assisted chemical solution is used to synthesize NCM material due to its ability to optimize structure and control particle morphology , especially at a nano-scale. Therefore, this method has the potential to increase capacitance, stability, and performance of a lithium-ion battery. Through the construction and testing of half cell batteries on either the Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) or Battery Testing System we will be able to to examine the performance and determine how to improve the process.

The New Mexico State University Department of Chemical Engineering developed a chemical engineering competition car for the AICHE regional competition. The NMSU AICHE competition car was designed based on prior experience from the competition and the guidelines proposed by AICHE, which outlined that the car must chemically be powered and stopped independently of exterior assistance. NMSU had previously utilized a lead acid battery reaction to power the car and a trans cinnamaldehyde clock-based reaction to stop the car. The incorporation of research into lithium-ion battery would allow for a more efficient and successful storage of power to be utilized by the CHME car. However, implementing a lithium ion battery power system into the CHME car project poses several issues such as meeting required voltage, fabrication of batteries, and charge/discharge efficiency. Prior groups within the department have designed the car based on lead acid batteries for a multitude of reasons, namely that the design and implementation of lead acid batteries is easier, safer, more well understood than that of lithium-ion battery technology. Lithium-ion batteries must be assembled in a glovebox due to rapid oxidation of lithium and the electrolyte. The stopping mechanism was accomplished by a clock-based reaction of trans cinnamaldehyde and ethanol in varying proportions.