A team led by Indian-origin scientist Vijay Murugesan has harnessed the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and supercomputing to uncover a novel battery material that could significantly decrease the reliance on lithium in batteries.
The discovery, a collaboration between Microsoft and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) based in the United States, leveraged Microsoft's Azure Quantum Elements to sift through a staggering 32 million potential inorganic materials. In just 80 hours, the AI-driven process narrowed down the selection to 18 promising candidates for use in battery development.
The Microsoft Quantum team utilised AI to swiftly identify approximately 500,000 stable materials within a matter of days. Murugesan and his team believe that this newly identified material has the potential to reduce lithium usage by an impressive 70%.
Following the revelation of this groundbreaking material, it has already been successfully employed to power a lightbulb. Notably, the AI-derived material operates as a solid-state electrolyte, facilitating the seamless movement of ions between the cathode and anode with minimal resistance.
Initially, scientists held the belief that sodium ions and lithium ions could not coexist in a solid-state electrolyte system due to their similar charges but different sizes. It was assumed that the structural framework of such a material couldn't support the movement of two distinct ions. However, through rigorous testing, Murugesan stated, "We found that the sodium and lithium ions seem to help each other."
Lithium, which gained attention as a battery component in the early 1900s, has become a cornerstone in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, powering a wide array of devices from phones to electric vehicles and satellites. The US Department of Energy predicts a five to tenfold increase in lithium demand by 2030, intensifying concerns about its scarcity and high cost.
Traditional lithium-ion batteries also pose environmental and safety challenges, with the mining process being problematic both environmentally and geopolitically. The newly discovered material presents a promising alternative with its solid-state electrolyte, offering enhanced stability and safety, according to the scientists leading this groundbreaking research.