A team at the University of North Carolina is now using artificial intelligence to develop the ultimate battery that will have extremely high energy density, longevity, fast charging and environmental friendliness. So how did this AI accomplish this incredible feat? When will we get this battery? What can we do with such great technology? Welcome to the wonderful world of fluoride-ion batteries.
Schematic diagram of fluoride ion battery
What is a fluoride ion battery? Functionally, they are the same lithium-ion batteries we use in cell phones and cars. This means that fluoride ions (ions are atoms without electrons) travel from the cathode through the electrolyte to the anode to store charge and back the other way to release charge.
Unlike lithium ions, however, fluoride ions are more compact and can be held together very tightly. This means that, in theory, fluoride batteries have ten times the energy density of today’s lithium-ion batteries. Imagine if you replaced the battery pack with the same quality Tesla Model 3 Long Range battery pack while using this theoretical fluoride chemistry and could travel 3400 miles per charge!
氟离子电池结构
氟（氟化物的元素形式）是地壳中的含量要丰富得多，与锂的第 33 多的元素相比，它是第 13 多的元素。更重要的是，与锂不同，氟在萤石和氟化钙等常见矿物质中很容易获得。这意味着氟离子电池的制造可能比锂离子电池更便宜、更环保。
既然氟离子电池这么好，我们为什么不立即使用这项技术呢？的确，氟离子电池还存在着一些尚未解决的问题，比如，有很多材料可以很容易地让锂离子通过它们，但很少有材料可以对氟离子做同样的事情。这使得很难找到能够在氟化物电池中制造电解质的材料，更不用说功能良好了。所以尽管氟离子电池的能量密度令人难以置信，但大多数氟化物电池一直表现很垃圾，只持续几次充电就发生了大规模降解。要找到可以解锁这种潜在改变游戏规则的材料需要数十年的艰苦计算和反复试验电池。
Fluoride ion batteries have higher requirements on the selection of materials
That’s where Sandberg and his colleagues from the University of North Carolina come in. They trained an artificial intelligence to find this magic material in weeks, not decades.
First, his team identified 10,000 materials that could potentially do the job, then randomly selected 300 of them and calculated their fluoride transport capabilities. This is a long and laborious process, as each calculation takes a week! Once they got the result, they used that result to train the AI. The team ran the program through 9,700 other materials, hoping to find their perfect match, and they did.
According to the plan, zinc and titanium-based materials (ZnTiF⁶) stand out. Its amazing storage capacity makes it the perfect electrolyte for fluoride batteries, and more importantly, it’s not too expensive and can be synthesized in the lab. Mining of raw materials is far less damaging to the environment than lithium-ion. In short, this may indicate that Sandberg is developing a battery with high energy density, low cost and environmental protection. Such batteries could revolutionize our daily lives and even save the planet from self-destruction.
Fluoride-ion batteries have great potential for automotive applications
The higher energy density of batteries also means that other electric vehicle applications become feasible, such as long-haul trucks with high load capacity, ships, and even commercial aircraft. All of these industries cannot use current battery technology because they require compact and lightweight systems to function properly.
This is how AI may have just invented the ultimate battery. By quickly identifying materials worth testing, we can accelerate the development of next-generation batteries that can help the entire world become carbon neutral without damaging the environment or causing another ecological disaster. The technology may still be a decade or two away from seeing the light of day, or even longer before it can be produced cheaply and at scale, but as such a technology is just emerging, it could give us hope that we can fight climate change and save the world. Let’s pray that Sandberg and other brilliant scientists working on fluoride-ion batteries can put this incredible technology into practice before it’s too late.
In conclusion, in addition to Japan and the United States, the United Kingdom and China are also studying the future of fluoride ion batteries, and the model of machine learning has the opportunity to accelerate the commercialization of fluoride ion batteries in 2030.
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