Toshiba says it has developed a new lithium-ion battery that does not use cobalt, charging 80% in 5 minutes

CTOnews.com November 28 news, Toshiba announced that the development of lithium ion batteries without metal cobalt, in the test, the new battery can charge 80% in 5 minutes, Toshiba said it will strive to achieve commercialization in 2028.

Toshiba said the new battery features ultra-fast charging, which can be charged to 80% in five minutes, and long life, with a capacity retention rate of 99.2% even after 100 cycles of charging and discharging at 60° C.

Yasuhiro Harada, senior researcher at Toshiba Research and Development Center's Advanced Research Laboratory for Nanomaterials, said: "In order to deploy this technology to automotive use, 50Ah or 100Ah is required, and we need to increase the capacity to achieve this goal. In order to make batteries bigger, we also need a lot of validation, and we think we should start with areas with lower technical barriers and then target automotive applications with higher technical barriers. Regarding the commercialization of vehicle batteries, we will consider technological advances and consult with the battery department to verify whether the target is correct. If any manufacturers, including car manufacturers, are interested, we will move forward together. "

According to CTOnews.com, cobalt is widely used as a component of lithium ion battery cathode materials, and demand has increased in recent years. Uneven distribution among resource-producing countries is also a contributing factor, leading to supply concerns, supply chain instability and rising costs. It was also noted that mining and smelting could cause environmental problems, such as soil and water pollution and biodiversity decline. In addition, the nickel content of the new battery is low, and the price of this material is soaring, so the new battery also has a cost advantage in this regard.

If this technology is put into practical use, it may become another pillar of Toshiba's lithium-ion battery business, which is on par with SCiB.