MKT, I think it will take Chiang five years or so to find out and then solve, all the technical problems with the doped lithium iron phosphate. What amazed me however, was the quote that the doped version has eight orders of magnitude greater conductivity than the undoped version. I am not going to review the original work, but doping by itself will rarely produce more than 2 to 3 order of magnitude change in conductivity. Unless, of course, the material is electronically no longer a small polaron type conductor but an electron (hole more probably) band conductor. If that is the case, the lithium may be "crystal frozen" and not be able to participate in charge transfer and storage in a battery. Maybe the material is a "hybrid" with channels of band conductors and islands of polaronic conductor. That might be the cause of the reduced charge capacity. If that is the case, aging problems ( conversion of a portion of one phase to the other permanently after each charge discharge cycle) may be the main issue for market applications.
In any event, I doubt this material is what VLNC should worry about, they should worry more about finance and burn rate and rapid arrival to the "safe land" of positive cash flow, and until then, the constant dilution of their stock. (another 10 MM shares just printed in the last serving).
Zeev |
