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The predicted persistence of cobalt in lithium-ion batteries

Author

Listed:
  • William E. Gent

    (Stanford University)

  • Grace M. Busse

    (Stanford University)

  • Kurt Z. House

    (KoBold Metals Company)

Abstract

Cobalt, widely used in the layered oxide cathodes needed for long-range electric vehicles (EVs), has been identified as a key EV supply bottleneck. Many reports have proposed that nickel-rich, cobalt-free cathodes can—in addition to supply chain benefits—herald significant increases in energy density and reductions in EV cost if they can be stabilized. Here we present a contrasting viewpoint. We show that cobalt’s thermodynamic stability in layered structures is essential in enabling access to higher energy densities without sacrificing performance or safety, effectively lowering battery costs per kWh despite increasing raw material costs. We additionally show that the supply growth required to support intermediate cobalt content cathodes for 1.3 billion EVs by 2050 is within historical trends for major industrial metals—although supply concentration in challenging jurisdictions is likely to remain a problem. We predict that these techno-economic factors will drive the continued use of cobalt in nickel-based EV batteries.

Suggested Citation

  • William E. Gent & Grace M. Busse & Kurt Z. House, 2022. "The predicted persistence of cobalt in lithium-ion batteries," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 7(12), pages 1132-1143, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natene:v:7:y:2022:i:12:d:10.1038_s41560-022-01129-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41560-022-01129-z
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. James T. Frith & Matthew J. Lacey & Ulderico Ulissi, 2023. "A non-academic perspective on the future of lithium-based batteries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-17, December.
    2. Ke Chen & Pallab Barai & Ozgenur Kahvecioglu & Lijun Wu & Krzysztof Z. Pupek & Mingyuan Ge & Lu Ma & Steven N. Ehrlich & Hui Zhong & Yimei Zhu & Venkat Srinivasan & Jianming Bai & Feng Wang, 2024. "Cobalt-free composite-structured cathodes with lithium-stoichiometry control for sustainable lithium-ion batteries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Jun Ma & Junxiong Wang & Kai Jia & Zheng Liang & Guanjun Ji & Haocheng Ji & Yanfei Zhu & Wen Chen & Hui-Ming Cheng & Guangmin Zhou, 2024. "Subtractive transformation of cathode materials in spent Li-ion batteries to a low-cobalt 5 V-class cathode material," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    4. Shengyu Tao & Haizhou Liu & Chongbo Sun & Haocheng Ji & Guanjun Ji & Zhiyuan Han & Runhua Gao & Jun Ma & Ruifei Ma & Yuou Chen & Shiyi Fu & Yu Wang & Yaojie Sun & Yu Rong & Xuan Zhang & Guangmin Zhou , 2023. "Collaborative and privacy-preserving retired battery sorting for profitable direct recycling via federated machine learning," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    5. Seongjae Ko & Xiao Han & Tatau Shimada & Norio Takenaka & Yuki Yamada & Atsuo Yamada, 2023. "Electrolyte design for lithium-ion batteries with a cobalt-free cathode and silicon oxide anode," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 6(12), pages 1705-1714, December.

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