Small Tweaks for Big Changes – Are Soft Metal Textures a Battery Breakthrough

Batteries are ubiquitous. Our modern technological age can not advance or prosper without effectively made, efficient batteries. Batteries are present in Electric Vehicles, mobile devices, renewable energy storage, and much more. 

If we look at the growth numbers, the potential is exponential. Between 2022 and 2030, the global demand for lithium-ion batteries, for instance, is expected to increase almost sevenfold, reaching 4.7 terawatt-hours in 2030. Market experts attribute a significant chunk of this growth to the surging popularity of Electric Vehicles, which are significantly dependent upon Lithium-Ion batteries. In 2024, EVs accounted for over 80 percent of the Lithium-ion battery demand worldwide. 

Supporting this extraordinary growth would require the production of batteries to be scaled up. And this scaling up of production could only be backed by innovation. The good news is that researchers worldwide are at it. They are consistently exploring new materials, designs, configurations, and chemistry. 

However, it is also crucial to keep checking whether these explorations optimize the resources available. And in such scrutiny, researchers found out that the texture of the metals is one thing that has been historically overlooked. 

While explaining the exact nature of this overlooking, UChicago PME Prof. Shirley Meng, the Liew Family Professor in Molecular Engineering, had the following to say:

“There is a gap in understanding the grain orientation, also known as the texture, how such factor impacts the rechargeable metal battery performance.”

The solution comes from Meng’s Laboratory for Energy Storage and Conversion and its industry partner, Thermo Fisher Scientific. More specifically, it comes through a paper written by Meng and her co-researchers. The paper is titled ‘Grain Selection Growth of Soft Metal in Electrochemical Processes.‘

Experimenting Towards a Better Texture for Better Batteries

By the term ‘texture,’ the researchers refer to the grain orientation that is oriented in a particular direction instead of random distribution. Plasma-focused ion beam-electron backscatter diffraction (PFIB-EBSD) helps characterize the metal texture under various electrochemical plating and stripping conditions. 

In the study¹, the researchers highlighted the competition of surface energy and strain energy for the texture formation of alkali metals. More particularly, they attempted to understand how the dominance of atomic diffusion and surface energy of alkali metals over grain selection growth during electrochemical processes work as key to explaining the kinetic constraints of solid-state batteries using metal anodes, particularly at room temperature. The ultimate goal of this research and the insights derived from it was to achieve desirable textures through interface engineering to improve the plating/stripping efficiency at high current densities.

The researchers carried out a series of steps in their pursuit of understanding what could be the perfect texture for metallic batteries. They characterized the soft metal texture under various conditions, developed a thermodynamic theory and phase-field model for texture formation, identified desirable textures for improving plating/stripping efficiency, and – finally – designed an interfacial layer for desirable grain growth. 

What Did the Research Achieve?

In the words of UChicago PME Research Assoc. Prof. Minghao Zhang, the first author of the new work, the researchers “discovered that adding a thin layer of silicon between lithium metal and the current collector helps create the desired texture.”

The researchers inferred that the “change improved the battery’s rate capability by nearly ten times in all-solid-state batteries using lithium metal.”

But what led the researchers to find out what was right and optimal? 

The researchers started with the premise that the ideal texture for a battery anode would be one where atoms could quickly move along the surface plane since faster movement helped batteries to charge and discharge faster. To change the way it is textured, what mattered was the differences in the soft metal’s surface energy.

According to Professor Minghao Zheng:

“Since batteries with lithium or sodium metal rely on these textures for favored rate capability, the team wondered if tweaking the texture of soft metals could improve power densities.”

The accomplishment of the objective depended heavily on the effective use of microscopic technology, which involved milling within a plasma-focused ion beam-scanning electron microscope (PFIB-SEM) with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) mapping. The efficient combination of these two ways could help study the texture in new ways. 

While elaborating on the usefulness of the microscope technology deployed for the research, study co-author Zhao Liu, Senior Market Development Manager of Thermo Fisher Scientific, had the following to say:

“The PFIB-EBSD combination is well-suited for this study, as PFIB can effectively access the area of interest within the cell stack, producing a high-quality surface with minimal defects, while EBSD provides detailed texture information on the soft metal.”

Apart from its industry partner, researchers also partnered with LG Energy Solution’s Frontier Research Laboratory, with the aim of working towards commercializing the technology. 

According to LG Energy Solution’s Senior Researcher Jeong Beom Lee, the research would help develop next-generation batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage applications. 

What the Researchers Aim to Do Further?

Moving forward, the researchers have two clear objectives. First, they want to lower the pressure used during testing from 5 megapascals (MPa) to 1 MPa, the current industry standard for commercially available batteries. Secondly, they want to look into the impact of texture on sodium, which, according to the findings of Meng, has the potential to emerge as an inexpensive, readily available alternative to lithium. 

Other Research on Li-ion Battery Materials

While the current research presents a breakthrough, similar research endeavors are not uncommon. A review of research done on such batteries – published in Materials Today – highlighted the fact that although Li-ion batteries had clear advantages of being a high energy density, high cycle life, and high-efficiency battery that it is today, research was continuing on new electrode materials to push the boundaries of cost, energy density, power density, cycle life, and safety.

While researchers looked into the promising anode and cathode material options available around them, they found that many of them suffered from the problems of limited electrical conductivity, slow Li transport, dissolution or other unfavorable interactions with electrolyte, low thermal stability, high volume expansion, and mechanical brittleness. The available solutions to these problems involved intercalation cathode brought to the market. However, the speed at which conversion material technology was achieving commercialization was slow. 

Speaking about commercialization and scaling up, we should now move towards companies that can achieve a lot through such high-end technological research. 

1. Samsung

In August 2024, South Korea’s Samsung SDI completed an agreement with General Motors to build a joint electric vehicle battery factory in the US State of Indiana. Through this agreement, the two companies decided to jointly build a battery cell manufacturing plant with an annual production capacity of 27 gigawatt hours. 

Earlier, in 2022, Samsung SDI Co., the world’s sixth-largest battery maker, and Dutch-domiciled multinational automaker Stellantis N.V. had chosen the state of Indiana as a site for a joint electric vehicle battery plant in the US. 

The manufacturer aimed to produce 23 gigawatt hours (GWh) of prismatic battery cells and modules a year, according to the plan for the first half of 2025 for Stellantis’ car factories in North America. 

When it comes to the production of batteries, Samsung SDI caters to a range of solutions, including Electric Vehicles, Energy Storage Systems, Micro Mobility, Power Devices, and IT Devices. 

For EVs and PHEVs, the company makes high-capacity, energy-dense, and fast-charging batteries with leadership in mass-producing solid-state batteries. For energy storage solutions, Samsung SDI offers battery products ranging from household solutions and utility, commercial, and industrial solutions integrated with renewable energy sources to uninterruptible power supply (UPS) solutions.

In Micro-Mobility, Samsung SDI manufactures batteries for small, lightweight last-mile transportation that comes in the form of e-kickboards, e-bikes, and e-scooters. In this segment, the company leverages high-level materials and component technologies to make the best available batteries. 

For e-bikes, Samsung SDI manufactures batteries with high energy density and safety. These batteries are slimmer and lighter. 

For electric two-wheelers – like e-scooters and e-motorcycles – Samsung SDI develops cylindrical batteries. These are batteries built with high-capacity materials, unique structural designs, and consistent quality, making the batteries safe and fit for top performance, long battery life, and safety. 

For power devices, Samsung SDI has high-output, high-capacity batteries. It also provides optimum OPE battery solutions with high energy density, stable power output, and long battery life. It also manufactures batteries with differentiated capacity and output. Finally, Samsung SDI also produces highly functioning and long-life batteries for IT devices, including smartphones and wearables. 

In late January 2025, Samsung announced 2024 fourth quarter and full year results with KRW 16.59 trillion ($11.55 billion) in annual revenue and KRW 363.3 billion in annual operating profit amid market slowdown. In the fourth quarter, the company’s revenue stood at KRW 3.75 trillion, posting a record-high revenue in the ESS battery business.

2. LG Energy Solutions

In December 2024, LG Energy Solutions engaged in talks with India’s JSW Energy to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage in a joint venture that would need an investment of over $1.5 billion. According to publicly available reports, the two companies signed an initial agreement to form an equal partnership in which LGES will contribute the technology and equipment for making batteries, and JSW will invest money, said one of the sources.

Overall, the company is known for Energy Storage Solution (ESS) batteries and advanced automotive batteries. The ESS division offers high-energy and high-output products for power grids and diversified household products. These batteries are produced with first-rate battery cell technology derived by applying advanced process know-how of lamination and stacking, a proprietary technology of LG.

These batteries come with a uniform energy output, long battery life, and stable structure. The LG ESS batteries also have improved spatial efficiency through compact size. By applying high-capacity, ultra-slim polymer battery cells in the development of grid and residential ESS, the company produces slim products that maximize space utilization and require minimal installation area. 

LG Energy Solutions is also the leading provider of cells, modules, BMS (Battery Management System), and pack products for electric vehicle batteries. The solutions include high energy density batteries that are lightweight and charge quickly.

The various dimensions these batteries come with ensure space maximization by solving the problem relating to commercial vehicles’ limited availability of space. The pouch-type battery cells can be produced in various lengths and widths and are conducive to enhancing the battery capacity and allowing optimization. 

In the last week of January 2025, LG Energy Solution announced its fourth quarter and full-year earnings. For the full year, the company reported KRW 25.6 trillion in consolidated revenue and KRW 575.4 billion in operating profit, a year-on-year decrease of 24.1 percent and 73.4 percent, respectively. The operating profit margin was 2.2 percent, including the IRA tax credit effect.

The Future of Batteries

The future of battery technology and battery management would attempt improvements in multiple areas. It would look for improved specific energy and energy density (more energy stored per volume/weight), longer lifetime, less flammability, less requirement of time for the battery to get fully charged, and reduced levelized cost of energy (LOCE). 

Researchers have looked into the technology trajectory of Li-ion batteries for the 2019-2030 period. They mentioned four types of probable technology setups: conventional Li-ion, Gr-Si Anode or Hi-Ni Cathode, solid-state batteries, and lithium-sulfur/air. The numbers suggest that the new battery technologies are all set to overtake conventional Li-ion in the next decade. 

The emergence of new battery technologies would reconsider the choice of cathode and anode materials. For instance, a battery using an LFP cathode has a lower energy density than that using NMC. Cathode material selection is important since it significantly affects the specific energy at the full cell level.

The choice of Anode material is also vital. Anode material, typically graphite, provides room for lithium ions to stay when the battery is charged. The number of Lithium ions stored directly links to how much electrical energy is stored.

Researchers see a gradual transition in Cathode Technology, moving from a typical Ni percentage of 50% towards 80% and 90%, respectively, for NMC and NCA batteries. To perform according to the needs of the capacity provided by hi-Ni percentage cathodes, adding a minor amount of Silicon oxides or pure Silicon into graphite anodes is growing in favor of cell manufacturers, reports suggest. 

The five new battery technologies that are expected to redefine the future involve NanoBolt lithium tungsten batteries, Zinc-manganese oxide batteries, Organosilicon electrolyte batteries, Gold nanowire gel electrolyte batteries, and TankTwo String Cell™ batteries. 

The NanoBolt lithium tungsten batteries, for instance, charge faster and store more energy. The Zinc-Manganese oxide batteries can work effectively as an alternative to lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries, especially for large-scale energy storage to support the national electricity grids. 

University of Wisconsin-Madison chemistry professors Robert Hamers and Robert West have developed organosilicon (OS) based liquid solvents that can be engineered at the molecular level for industrial, military, and consumer Li-ion battery markets.

While experimenting with gels, which are not as combustible as liquids, researchers at the University of California, Irvine, attempted coating gold nanowires with manganese dioxide and then covering them with electrolyte gel.

While nanowires are usually too delicate to use in batteries, these solutions have become resilient, and the resulting electrode, researchers discovered, went through 200,000 cycles without losing its ability to hold a charge. That is compared to 6,000 cycles in a conventional battery.

The String Cell™ battery contained a collection of small independent self-organizing cells. Each string cell consisted of a plastic enclosure covered with a conductive material that allowed it to quickly and easily form contact with others. An internal processing unit controlled the connections in the electrochemical cell.

To facilitate quick charging of an EV, the little balls contained in the battery were sucked out and swapped for recharged cells at the service station. At the station, the cells could be recharged at off-peak hours.

With all these solutions at our disposal, several battery breakthroughs await us in the future.