Lamborghini adopts MIT’s rapid-charging organic battery era through licensing settlement

Lithium-ion batteries, a familiar technology, continue to evolve, with an ongoing quest for improved performance. Despite advancements, challenges persist, particularly concerning expensive and problematic materials like cobalt and nickel. Alternatives, such as manganese and sodium, have been explored. Now, a potential solution emerges in the form of TAQ, an organic compound primarily composed of carbon. Unlike traditional lithium-ion battery materials, TAQ offers enhanced energy storage at a lower cost.

Research into organic cathodes, the negatively charged component, has faced durability issues due to dissolution in common liquid electrolytes. However, TAQ exhibits notable resilience, remaining stable in widely used electrolytes. Its energy density surpasses that of nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC), a prevalent lithium-ion battery chemistry, by an impressive 50%.

Known as bis-tetraaminobenzoquinone, TAQ features a carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen composition arranged in three neighboring hexagons. The structure resembles graphite, commonly used as a positive terminal (anode) material today. Each TAQ molecule forms bonds with up to six others through hydrogen bonds, creating a nearly flat sheet that can be layered, effectively storing lithium ions in the resulting holes.

The discovery of TAQ is attributed to Tian yang Chen and Harish Banda, researchers in the lab of MIT Professor Mircea Dincă. Dincă’s collaboration with Lamborghini, aimed at electrifying the hyper car manufacturer’s lineup, has yielded significant results. Following the use of a supercapacitor from Dincă’s lab in Lamborghini’s Sian model, the automaker has now secured a patent license for TAQ, signaling a promising advancement in battery technology.

News Source : Techcrunch