Powering IoT Devices for Sustainable Performance

Vanja Samuelsson

fromQoitech

19 Sep, 2023

Long battery life is one of key enablers of IoT

In the rapidly evolving landscape of IoT, battery life is paramount for device sustainability. We dissect the challenges and strategies for battery longevity of LPWAN IoT devices. Explore battery profiling and optimization for extended device life and reduced costs.

Unveiling Battery Performance Secrets

Explore the intricacies of LPWAN IoT device battery performance. Factors impacting battery life are dissected, aiding tailored battery selection for specific applications. Optimization strategies maximize battery efficiency, enabling peak device performance and extended lifecycles.

Managing Power Consumption

IoT devices demand efficient power management. Factors like data rate, duty cycle, and connectivity impact battery life. Learn how to optimize sleep modes and wake-up intervals, as well as transmission power, to conserve energy effectively.

Choosing the Right Battery

Battery selection is critical. Discover how matching battery behavior with device needs ensures reliable power. Follow the guide in selecting batteries aligned with your application requirements.

Real-World Case Study

The white paper “Powering IoT devices: How to choose the right battery and make it last includes” a practical case study illustrating battery selection techniques for a waste management IoT deployment. Learn how to profile your IoT device from prototype, estimate battery life, and analyze different battery profiles.

Proactive Battery Profiling

Profiling your IoT device, even during early prototyping, is crucial. The white paper provides guidance on power profiling, emulation, and iterative refinement throughout your product development.

Comprehensive Battery Insights

Battery data sheets are just the beginning. We delve deeper, profiling batteries across brands, chemistries, and form factors to understand subtle performance differences that influence decision-making.

Download the White paper

Discover the secrets to sustainable IoT device power management. Download the white paper to empower your LPWAN IoT deployments with optimized battery solutions.

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Students Make a Battery That Can Be Wirelessly Recharged up to 500 Times

In spite of their many disadvantages, batteries remain one of the key components in contemporary electronics. While changing their structure entirely is impossible due to the chemical and physical processes happening inside, scientists, startups, and major companies are searching for ways to reinvent them or adopt totally new approaches.

Alena Mamaeva

fromITMO University

08 Feb, 2023

batteries

- Battery

- Battery life

In spite of their many disadvantages, batteries remain one of the key components in contemporary electronics. While changing their structure entirely is impossible due to the chemical and physical processes happening inside, scientists, startups, and major companies are searching for ways to reinvent them or adopt totally new approaches. One such approach was suggested by students of ITMO’s School of Physics and Engineering – their nine-volt battery can be recharged wirelessly with a regular smartphone charger. ITMO.NEWS breaks down the science behind the new device.

The afterlife of a battery

Because of their various toxic components (lithium, zinc, nickel, cobalt, etc.) single-use batteries have to be properly recycled – usually they are collected at special recycling points. There, all the remaining useful parts, such as nonferrous metals and their salts, are extracted to be used again. For instance, manganese dioxide becomes a pigment for concrete and bricks, while zinc dust is responsible for blue colors in fireworks.

Rechargeable batteries, on the other hand, can be used multiple times when charged with a special device. Such chargers are usually powered through a USB or a plug and are compatible with a limited number of battery types, for instance, AA, AAA, or nine-volt batteries. As this doesn’t account for much convenience, companies and researchers around the world are developing more user-friendly chargers. For example, in 2016 the American company Lightors came up with a special wireless charging device for its own AA and AAA batteries. However, what about other types of rechargeable batteries produced by other players on the market?

The prototype of the new device placed on a Qi-certified wireless charger. The white platform is a transmitter and the chip board is its power source. Photo by Dmitry Grigoryev / ITMO.NEWS

A new beginning

Image: KIT researchers have characterized the formation of the solid-electrolyte interface with the help of simulations. (Collage: Christine Heinrich)

Batteries: Major Mystery of the Passivation Layer Solved

KIT researchers characterize the chemical processes at the electrodes of lithium-ion batteries by means of simulations

Martin Heidelberger

fromKarlsruhe Institute of Technology

08 Mar, 2023

batteries

- Battery

- Battery life

- Simulation Software

Lithium-ion batteries have become an integral part of our everyday life. They only work with a passivation layer that forms on the electrodes during the first charging process. As researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now determined using simulations, this solid-electrolyte interface does not form directly at the electrode, but rather grows out of the solvent. The scientists report on their study in the journal Advanced Energy Materials ( DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202203966 ). Their findings make it possible to optimize the performance and service life of future batteries.

From smartphones to electric cars – lithium-ion batteries are used almost everywhere where mobile power supply is required. The solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) is crucial for the reliable operation of these and other liquid electrolyte batteries. This passivation layer forms when a voltage is first applied. The electrolyte is decomposed in the immediate vicinity of the surface. It was previously unclear how the components of the electrolyte can form a stable layer up to 100 nanometers thick on the surface of the electrodes when the decomposition reaction is only possible within a few nanometers of the surface.

The passivation layer on the anode surface plays a key role in determining the electrochemical performance and service life of a lithium-ion battery, because it is heavily stressed in every charging and discharging cycle. If the SEI breaks open, the electrolyte is further decomposed and the capacity of the battery steadily decreases - a process that determines the life of the battery. With the appropriate knowledge about the growth and composition of the SEI, battery properties can be specifically adapted. So far, however, neither experimental nor computer-aided approaches have succeeded in decoding these complex growth processes, which take place on very different sizes and length scales.