Stanford researchers show off blueprint for self-healing lithium battery
Stanford researchers show off blueprint for self-healing
lithium battery
By Jon Gold Follow
NetworkWorld | Jul 28, 2014 12:43 PM
A paper published today by Stanford University
researchers outlines a way to make lithium batteries a lot safer, opening the
door to a host of new applications in everything from smartphones to electric
cars.
The paper, which ran in the journal Nature
Nanotechnology, details the use of a carbon nanotube layer to isolate a lithium
battery’s anode, protecting it from the rigors of heavy use.
Lithium-ion batteries are one of the most efficient ways
to pack a lot of power into a small space, and they’re consequently in heavy
use – one of them is probably powering your smartphone as you read this. The
Tesla Model S also uses a lithium ion cell for power. But lithium-ion batteries
use several other materials as anodes, even though a lithium anode would be
substantially more efficient.
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The reason for this? A lithium anode tends to form
irregular, “mossy” metal deposits with use, rapidly decreasing efficiency and
causing potential safety issues. But the Stanford team, led by Professor Yi
Cui, used a coating of amorphous hollow carbon nanospheres to isolate the anode
and prevent the formation of the unwanted deposits.
The effect is more efficient batteries that last roughly
50% longer than units without the carbon nanosphere treatment, with
consequently broad implications. Safe lithium batteries could mean longer
ranges for electric cars, longer lives for portable electronic devices and much
more.
Some of the same team members were responsible for a
another potential Li-on battery advancement, outlined in another paper last
year, this time of a flexible carbon nanotube “skin” for existing silicon
anodes, which helps stop them from cracking and losing efficiency.
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