Quantum analysis of lithium ion materials boosts EV batteries
PsiQuantum has teamed up with Mercedes-Benz to find out how quantum computers can be used to speed up the development of more effective batteries for electric vehicles
PsiQuantum is the world’s best funded quantum startup and is building a fault-tolerant photonic quantum computer. It is working with a range of companies, including car makers, on how this can help develop new technology. Several European projects are looking at developing similar systems, including a new€50m project for a room temperature photonic quantum computerin Germany (see links below).
The new analysis by PsiQuantum and Mercedes shows how electrolyte molecules in Lithium-ion batteries (LiB) can be simulated on such a machine, giving a route to developing new materials for more efficient batteries.
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Development of new Li-ion batteries currently involves a significant amount of trial and error. Some developers such as Inobat have used machine learning and AI to accelerate the process. However, conventional supercomputers struggle to simulate the crucially important quantum behaviour of the molecules and reactions in question. Quantum computers could overcome this constraint.
Quantum analysis
PsiQuantum investigated quantum algorithms for simulating effects of the common electrolyte additive, fluoroethylene carbonate. The analysis of these electrolyte simulations uncovered new optimizations, only apparent at the scale of fault-tolerant quantum computation, which reduced the resource overhead of the application to be more manageable.
The team also demonstrated the utility of a method specific to photonic quantum computing known as interleaving which allows the time and memory resources of a quantum computer to be traded off. This marks a significant move towards the goal of efficient chemistry simulations on a quantum computer.
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