“To achieve mass adoption of electric vehicles at the levels projected will require that EV [electric vehicles] batteries become cheaper and are able to achieve longer ranges between charges. Prices of lithium-ion battery packs have steadily decreased as EV manufacturers seek to achieve cost parity with internal combustion vehicles.”
This paragraph is from the book Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives, written by Siddharth Kara, an Indian-American researcher. The book sheds light on the challenges faced by the people working in the artisanal mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which supply about 70% of the world’s cobalt production.
This isn't an inconsequential number. Cobalt is crucial for the electric car and consumer electronics industries. Currently, its significance is paramount, and there’s no indication that its importance will diminish in the future.
Why Cobalt Is So Special
Cobalt is a ferromagnetic metal, which means it has magnetic properties similar to those of iron. In fact, it’s placed between iron and nickel on the periodic table, indicating that its atomic structure and chemical properties are similar to those of these elements. What’s more, a cobalt atom has one more proton in the nucleus and one more electron orbiting around it than iron.
The link between cobalt, iron, and nickel goes beyond their atomic structure and chemical properties. As a matter of fact, cobalt is often found together with nickel, although it’s less abundant than nickel. It’s estimated that there’s 0.02% nickel and only 0.001% cobalt in the Earth’s crust. More importantly, both cobalt and the alloys in which it’s used are highly resistant to wear and corrosion, even when exposed to very high temperatures.
It’s estimated that the Earth’s crust contains 0.02% nickel compared to only 0.001% cobalt.
Furthermore, the cobalt’s hardness and tensile strength are very similar to those of iron and nickel, making it ideal for use in alloys used in industrial machinery. Interestingly, cobalt is also part of cobalamin, which is none other than vitamin B12. Therefore, it’s essential that cobalt is present, in small amounts, in the bodies of all animals, including humans.
But the cobalt’s applications don’t end there. Far from it. One of its isotopes, cobalt-60, has the same number of protons and electrons as cobalt (27). However, it also has one more neutron in the nucleus than naturally occurring cobalt. This is a radioactive metal used in radiotherapy to treat certain forms of cancer. The problem is that its half-life, the time it takes for half of the nuclei in a sample to disintegrate, is just over five years, and after that stage, it’s still highly radioactive. Due to this reason, its use in medical applications is declining in Western countries.
This isn't all. Cobalt has more applications that we haven't delved into. However, the most interesting one is its usefulness in the manufacture of battery electrodes that power many of the devices we use daily, such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops. It also plays an essential role in the manufacture of batteries for electric cars, which is why the consumer electronics and automotive industries are now seeking after it with the firm intention of protecting its production for the future.
Cobalt oxide is used to build a substrate on which small patches of lithium oxide are deposited.
So, what role does cobalt have in lithium-ion battery manufacturing? Manufacturers use cobalt to significantly enhance battery performance, leading to longer device battery life. Over the last decade, the use of cobalt for this purpose has increased substantially. Previously, cobalt was mainly acquired from sources involved in extraction rather than companies producing industrial alloys.
Since we’ve gotten this far, it’s worth taking one more step forward and pausing to analyze where cobalt is specifically used in the battery. It’s easy to identify: It’s used in the positive electrode. Cobalt oxide is used to create a matrix or substrate on which small patches of lithium oxide are deposited. This allows for a storage capacity that’s nearly three times higher than that of lithium-ion batteries without cobalt. Additionally, their capacity is reduced by only 1.8% after about 130 charge cycles, which is quite impressive.
Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives
This article was written by Juan Carlos López and originally published in Spanish on Xataka.
Image | Sachin Mamtora
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