Li-ion batteries could soon charge 10x more, 10x faster

[Vulpes Abnocto]

Batteries for phones and laptops could soon recharge ten times faster and hold a charge ten times larger than current technology allows.

Scientists at Northwestern University in the US have changed the materials in lithium-ion batteries to boost their abilities.

One change involves poking millions of minuscule holes in the battery.

Batteries built using the novel technique could be in the shops within five years, estimate the scientists.

Fast Movers

A mobile phone battery built using the Northwestern techniques would charge from flat in 15 minutes and last a week before needing a recharge.

The density and movement of lithium ions are key to the process.

Dr Harold Kung and his team at Northwestern said they have found a way to cram more of the ions in and to speed up their movement by altering the materials used to manufacture a battery.

The maximum charge has been boosted by replacing sheets of silicon with tiny clusters of the substance to increase the amount of lithium ions a battery can hold on to.

The recharging speed has been accelerated using a chemical oxidation process which drills small holes - just 20-40 nanometers wide - in the atom-thick sheets of graphene that batteries are made of.

This helps lithium ions move and find a place to be stored much faster.

The downside is that the recharging and power gains fall off sharply after a battery has been charged about 150 times.

"Even after 150 charges, which would be one year or more of operation, the battery is still five times more effective than lithium-ion batteries on the market today," said lead scientist Prof Harold Kung from the chemical and biological engineering department at Northwestern.

So far, the work done by the team has concentrated on making improvements to anodes - where the current flows into the batteries when they are providing power.

The group now plans to study the cathode - where the current flows out - to make further improvements.

A paper detailing the work of Prof Kung and his co-workers has been published in the journal Advanced Energy Materials.

Source

Even though it's said that this gain drops dramatically after 150 charges, it would certainly be nice to have that sort of boost for a while.
Play your Nintendo 3DS for >10 hours, charge it in

 

[Xuphor]

Several hundred (maybe thousand) "small holes - just 20-40 nanometers wide", which'll up the charge by what? 8 times? No thanks, no woth it

 

[Vulpes Abnocto]

If it doesn't make the batteries any more expensive I don't see how this increase wouldn't be worth considering.

 

[Canonbeat234]

Wow this is very interesting to say the least. I was thinking that batteries can't evolve due to their set voltage of amps that the company produce overtime. Now looking at this information it makes me wonder how 'safe' is the battery under high temperatures?

 

[DinohScene]

By the time those batteries come out the 3DS will already been succeeded by another Ninty handheld.
The PS Vita will be replaced by something.
My laptop would be buried in a landfill.
My phone would probably still work.......

Several hundred (maybe thousand) "small holes - just 20-40 nanometers wide", which'll up the charge by what? 8 times? No thanks, no woth it

All new technology is expensive.
Wait a year and it will be cheap enough to afford.

 

[s4mid4re]

Estimated price? I don't see it in the article.

 

[Vulpes Abnocto]

Canonbeat: That's pretty much what I was wondering.
I want to know if the battery is more unstable, prone to leakage, more apt to explode using this new method.
And of course how much each battery will cost.

 

[chyyran]

This is nice, maybe the iPhone 5 won't run out of battery in 4 hours. Then again, maybe the tech isn't ready that early.

 

[Costello]

those announcements about batteries always create some kind of excitement, i remember reading pretty much the same a couple of months or years ago.
but I've learnt not to get too excited until we actually see something out there on the market.

if this happens, the initial pricing will probably turn out to be overly high, and they will make use of the technology in a progressive manner.
industrials will want to start low, with models that improve the current batteries significantly, but they'll still want room for profit & evolution so that they may evolve to more expensive models and renew their product lines in the future.

... a little like we're seeing now with the SSD drives. The technology is highly promising (massive gap between SSD and HDD technologies) but it seems industrials are keeping it slow: prices are constantly high, first models had ridiculously low capacities, etc.

 

[yuyuyup]

I'm frightened of battery acid leaking from the holes onto my face or a kitty or the army.

 

[Xuphor]

If it doesn't make the batteries any more expensive I don't see how this increase wouldn't be worth considering.

The companies will need to buy the extra machines needed to make said holes, said machines will need to operate 24/7 with the other machines, there will be more testing to ensure the holes are the proper size and in the proper space, there'll probably be longer testing time to ensure the holes don't leak, etc. In short: new machine and "labor" fees.

Costello's right tho, as with all new stuff, once the cost of the new machines is paid off, it'll go down in price significantly.

 

[Veho]

The companies will need to buy the extra machines needed to make said holes, said machines will need to operate 24/7 with the other machines, there will be more testing to ensure the holes are the proper size and in the proper space, there'll probably be longer testing time to ensure the holes don't leak, etc.

You missed the "chemical oxidation process" bit. The holes won't be drilled, they will be made by dipping the graphene sheets in a corrosive agent. The size will be determined by varying the time the sheets spend in the agent. The spacing will be random (there is no "proper" placing, the important thing is that they're there), and the holes will "leak" because they're not indentations in the material, they go straight through. So no, they won't have to develop an incredibly fine and incredibly small drill to make the holes, all they need to add is a rust-proof tub.

 

[shakirmoledina]

i do remember the first announcement (that i believe shaun is talking about) that u can insert batteries in either direction and it would work, shaun said he wished for batteries that would go on for months without recharging. getting closer to it hopefully esp since mobile tech is really the way to go these days but battery has always been an issue like the iphone 4S recently had.

 

[RupeeClock]

Suppose even that these radical new batteries become a reality and that they are expensive, even than that's good news because the current batteries may become significantly cheaper as well.

Devices are just gonna keep guzzling up more battery power with more demanding hardware and tasks, and in some cases poor power management or sub-optimal software, it's about time batteries made a leap like optical media and hard drives have.

 

[Gahars]

This is some pretty cool news, actually. Only time will tell how it works out (if it even comes out at all), but for now, color me excited.

Also, these should totally be called Lion Batteries instead of Li-ion. Why? A) Easier and faster to pronounce, and B) It's just cool - Who the hell wouldn't want something called lion batteries (PETA notwithstanding)?

 

[chartube12]

Just one problem, in 10 years mobile device will use 10x more power

 

[RupeeClock]

Just one problem, in 10 years mobile device will use 10x more power

Maybe if we're talking laptops that utilise x84/64 processors instead of ARM, like the majority of handheld devices and current smart phones.

How awesome would it be to have a laptop that lasted hours rather than days?

 

[Vulpes Abnocto]

Also, these should totally be called Lion Batteries instead of Li-ion. Why? A) Easier and faster to pronounce, and B) It's just cool - Who the hell wouldn't want something called lion batteries (PETA notwithstanding)?

Among friends I do call them Lion batteries, but only if I know that they'll understand what I mean.
It's just faster, and more amusing.

 

[HaniKazmi]

The problem is that power demands are also increasing rapidly, and therefore we probably won't get longer battery life. We probably need this just to stay at the current times

 

[Deleted User]

In less than 4 years I can foresee this being a reality.