Novel Operational Strategies to Enhance Battery Performance: Magnetism
Part 3 of optimising battery performance
How a battery performs very much depends on not just how it was made, but how it is treated. Move over heat and pressure from part 1, acoustics from part 2, today we look at Magnetism!
In traditional lithium-ion batteries, ion transport is primarily via diffusion (due to concentration gradients) and migration (due to potential gradients). Magnetism provide extra driving forces in addition to these mechanisms.
Magnetism
In the past five years, there have been some research works popping up in literature aiming to utilize the principles of electromagnetism to propel ions faster through the electrolyte inside porous electrodes and separators.
The physics hinges on Lorentz force law, F=qE + qv x B, that dictates that moving charges in an electric and magnetic field are acted upon by a force in the direction of the electric field and perpendicular to both ion velocity and magnetic field. The magnitude of the force is dependent on the strength of both fields. By tuning the magnitude and direction of the magnetic field, ions can be imparted an extra push towards the in-plane/out-plane directions to homogenize ion concentration gradients and electrolyte potential gradients inside the battery leading to lower overpotentials and enhanced performance.
Static magnetic fields can be generated using simple permanent magnets (think Walmart store magnets) or electromagnets with DC current flowing through the coils, while dynamic magnetic fields can be generated by running AC currents through the electromagnet coils/rotating the magnets. Ideally, a bevy of electromagnets at different locations around the battery can be used to generate dynamically changing magnetic fields to force ions along the desirable direction.
It is important to note that the desirable transport direction in the battery reverses during charge and discharge, so we hypothesise that the electric field flips automatically between charge and discharge to make ions go from anode to cathode and vice versa. Presumably the magnets may need to be controlled to make sure they are not opposing this usual flow.
An important distinction can be made here as compared to acoustics induced flow; here the force is imparted diretly to the charged species/ion while the bulk solvent can be considered static. Acoustics is bulk electrolyte flow which essentially stirs the liquid together to mix the ions well.
Ruan and colleagues subjected a 3 Ah cylindrical 18650 cell to a static magnetic field of strength 3.5 mT to 39.5 mT produced from a Helmholtz coil with the magnetic field aligned parallel to the cell length. As the magnetic intensity increases, higher constant current charge and discharge capacities were observed from C/3 to 1C. Design of the electrode jellyroll inside the 18650 cell dictates that electrolyte ion transport happens in the radial direction during charge/discharge; this would indicate that the magnetic force is being imparted perpendicular to cylinder thickness and radial direction which is the other radial direction (into/out of paper).
Moving onto coin cells, using a static magnetic field generated by a NdFeB spacer of max magnetic strength 35mT, Chen and colleagues were able to showcase performance improvements in a coin cell configuration for lithium-ion and sodium-ion cells. The cells showcased improved discharge capacity as compared to baseline cells without magnetic field as well as better capacity retention with cycling. Again, enhanced ion transport and reaction kinetics were hypothesized to cause this improvement.
What companies are in this space?
Gaussion, based in the United Kingdom and led by CEO Tom Heenan, is developing MagLiB rapid charging technology to enhance battery performance. Several patents have been granted in the last five years demonstrating the usage of a magnetic field source on lithium-ion batteries. Performance improvements are showcased on 200, 400 mAh pouch cells and 2190 mAh LG 18650 cells with permanent/changing/rotating magnetic fields.
Gaussion is also designing magnetic flux generators using an array of magnets evidenced by a patent issued in 2025. The magnetic flux generator showcased below consisted of multiple magnets arranged in a common plane on a flat mechanical support.
To round this all off, we’ve got an interview with Aaron Wade, Business Development Lead at Gaussion, answering some pertinent questions related to this technology.
Could you tell us a little bit about the background story to Gaussion as a start up, and how the company got the niche of magnetoelectrochemistry?
Gaussion spun out of University College London in 2022, from the electrochemical innovation lab (EIL). Our co-founder and CEO Tom Heenan had been working on the technology for around ten years prior to this.
The eureka moment came when he was working at a particle accelerator during his PhD, where magnetic fields are used to accelerate electrons to generate X-rays, used for imaging. This steered him towards exploring the application of magnetic fields to electrochemical devices, and ultimately his collaboration with Chun Tan, our COO, led to them co-founding Gaussion to enhance battery performance.
How are you finding this start up in a niche market from your more commodity and markets background?
It’s been a fascinating few months! My work understanding the market side of battery technologies and cost gave me a very broad overview of what is currently leading the market, and how this is being done.
This knowledge has been incredibly helpful when understanding where our technology sits compared to current and next-generation batteries, and the value we can provide on-top of the continuous battery innovation that shows no sign of slowing down.
For a personal perspective, it’s been fulfilling and inspiring to work in a small team building disruptive technology that can accelerate the adoption of batteries and sustainable energy production.
In the academic papers, they used a magnetic internal spacer in a coin cell. How does this scale up into cylindrical or prismatic cells, or even at a pack level to apply the right magnetic field? If outside the cell, does that change anything about how well it works?
There are a few key differences between the academic test rigs and Gaussion’s commercial systems:
Rare-earth free. A platform of technologies that are based on electromagnets free of rare earth metals, providing greater supply chain security and improved environmental footprint.
Miniaturisation. Optimising the magnetic field structure and control algorithms has allowed the system to reduce in size significantly, unlocking mobility applications.
Rapid scalability. Many of the architectures employ printed circuit board (PCB) technologies that can be progressed from conception to first build in a matter of hours, and readily scale to tens or hundreds of thousands of units without significant production line modifications.
Battery Agnostic. The platform includes a variety of form factors that can address all cell types (e.g., pouch, prismatic, cylindrical) and chemistries (e.g., NMC, LFP, Gr, Si, etc.).
Real-time optimisation. Innovations in control have allowed us to decouple the magnetic field generator and its control system, enabling real time adaptations and over the air updates (‘OTA’).
Relatedly, at what level of production do you expect your customers to be? Are you targeting cell manufacturers or OEMs or something in between, for the adoption of electromagnetism for fast charging?
Since our technology can be applied in multiple areas, the customer base is very broad. We have projects throughout the battery supply chain, from cell manufacturers to automotive OEMs.
Are there any common worries among investors and OEMs to the idea of putting magnetic elements in for fast charging or are people very keen on anything that makes charging faster and lifetimes longer?
First question – what is magneto-electrochemistry?
This is a highly novel technology and an emerging field of science, so new relationships normally start with an element of education on what magneto-electrochemistry is and how it works at a fundamental level.
Second question – What do your magnetic components look like?
We then run through the range of architectures that we have developed, and example case studies exploring data on common cell formats and chemistries.
Third question – How do we integrate this into our products?
We then explore trade-offs, looking at where the magnetics can be added to existing or new partner products, while staying within any target constraints (e.g., energy density).
Fourth question – Is it safe?
We operate our systems in inherently safe regimes, avoiding dangerous frequencies and field strengths that could cause an electromagnetic compatibility compliance failure (e.g., EMC R10).
Fifth question – How much does it cost?
And finally, we explain how we optimise for the partner’s financial model. Some partner models are more sensitive to CAPEX, others to OPEX, but in all scenarios the bill of material for our PCBs is very low (CAPEX) and are ultra-efficient to operate (low OPEX).
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