Discussion with Professor Shirley Meng about the future of the anode. Including Carbon, Silicon, and Pure Lithium Metal (C, Si, Li). Shirley has specialised in nanomaterials engineering and I think she’s the perfect person to speak with about the recent excitement around silicon anodes (nanotubes, nanowires). Today, the focus will be silicon, but we’ll also go a bit broader and talk about what we can generally expect from battery anodes in the next few years.
Timeline
0:00 Introduction
0:54 Silicon Benefits and Challenges
6:28 What can we expect?
10:06 Nanomaterials & First Cycle Losses
13:40 Silicon vs Lithium Metal
22:03 Lithium Metal Timeframes
26:50 Graphite
29:15 More Brains Needed!
30:22 Pre-Lithiation (Lithium Doping)
31:51 Data Standardisation
32:52 Supercaps
37:35 Elon’s 400wh/kg Comment
39:28 Hopes
43:26 Closing Thoughts: The Grid