发布时间： 2024年6月7日 下午11：18 UTC 

通过：克里斯蒂安·阿加蒂发布

6 张图片图片：丰田中央研发实验室

电动汽车中使用的锂离子电池旨在延长使用寿命，但最终会失去容量并需要更换。日本丰田中央研发实验室的一组研究人员发现了一种简单的方法来逆转衰老过程并延长其生命周期。

研究表明，电动汽车中的锂离子电池非常可靠，这要归功于调节温度和充放电性能的高效管理系统。更换电动汽车电池是非常罕见的情况，大多数电动汽车在数十万英里和多年使用后仍然使用原装电池。

无论锂离子电池有多好，随着时间的推移，它们都会随着锂离子数量的减少而逐渐失去容量。发生这种情况时，它们需要更频繁地充电并且可靠性较低。例如，在寒冷的天气里，它们可能无法提供正常运行期间所需的全部功率，从而导致它们意外耗尽。无法依赖汽车计算机计算的续航里程是电动汽车的一个大问题。

发生这种情况时，需要更换用过的电池，这通常很昂贵。废旧电池可用于其他要求较低的应用或回收利用。然而，来自日本丰田中央研发实验室的一组研究人员发现了一种更好的方法。他们发现，将特定的化学物质注射到细胞中可以使它们恢复到几乎满负荷的状态。注入触发反应，产生更多带电粒子（锂离子和电子）。

该单步工艺中使用的物质称为回收试剂，能够逆转电池的降解并恢复其原始容量的80%。在他们的实验中，科学家们发现，恢复后的电池在100次充电/放电循环中保持了其性能。该方法在小型和大型电池（包括电动汽车中使用的电池）上进行了测试，并证明了其有效性。

但是，该技术并不能治愈任何类型的电池退化。化学注入方法适用于因反复充电和放电而失去离子的电池。遭受结构损伤或其他形式的退化的细胞就不走运了。这就是为什么必须对细胞进行诊断，以确定它们是否可以通过化学注射恢复活力。这带来了挑战，因为找到一种简单、无损的方法来评估电池状态并非易事。

现在了解化学注入对电池及其安全性的潜在副作用还为时过早。尝试这种恢复活力的方法只是为了让电池稍后起火是没有意义的。虽然很少见，但电池火灾确实会发生，而且众所周知很难扑灭。但是，如果这种方法有效，它可以减少浪费并节省资金。

锂离子电池 电池退化 丰田 电动汽车 研究

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• LI-ION BATTERY

Toyota Finds Solution To Rejuvenate Used Li-Ion Batteries, It's Game Over for ICE Vehicles

Published: 7 Jun 2024, 21:18 UTC • By:

Cristian Agatie

Li-ion batteries used in electric vehicles are designed for long service life but will eventually lose capacity and need replacement. A group of researchers at Toyota Central R&D Labs in Japan found a simple way to reverse the aging process and extend their life cycle.

Studies have shown that lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles are quite reliable, thanks to efficient management systems that regulate temperature and charge/discharge performance. Replacing an EV battery is a very rare occurrence, with most electric vehicles still on their original battery after hundreds of thousands of miles and years of service.

No matter how good Li-ion batteries have gotten, they will gradually lose capacity over time as the number of lithium ions decreases. When this happens, they need to be charged more often and are less reliable. For instance, in cold weather, they might not be able to provide the full power necessary during normal operation, causing them to deplete unexpectedly. Being unable to rely on the range calculated by the car's computer is a big issue with electric vehicles.

When this happens, a used battery will need to be replaced with a new one, which is usually expensive. The spent battery can be used in other applications with lower requirements or recycled. However, a group of researchers from Toyota Central R&D Labs in Japan found a better way. They discovered that injecting specific chemicals into the cell can restore them to almost full capacity. The injection triggers a reaction that creates more charged particles (lithium ions and electrons).

The substance used in this single-step process is called a recovery reagent and is able to reverse the degradation of the battery and restore up to 80 percent of its original capacity. During their experiments, the scientists found out that the restored battery maintained its performance for 100 charge/discharge cycles. The method was tested on small and large batteries, including those used in electric vehicles, and proved its efficiency.

However, the technique does not cure any type of battery degradation. The chemical injection method works for batteries that have lost their ions due to repeated charging and discharging. Cells that suffered structural damage or another form of deterioration are out of luck. This is why the cells must be diagnosed to determine whether they can be rejuvenated with the chemical injection. This poses a challenge, as finding a simple, non-destructive method to assess the battery state is not trivial.

It's still premature to understand the potential side effects of the chemical injection on the battery and its safety. There's no point in attempting this rejuvenation method only to have the battery burst into flames later. Although rare, battery fires do happen and are notoriously difficult to extinguish. However, if this method works, it can reduce waste and save money.