Crushed Silicon Triples Life of Li-Ion Batteries In the Lab

derekmead writes "Batteries rule everything around us, which makes breakthroughs a big deal. A research team at Rice says they have produced a nice jump: by using a crushed silicon anode in a lithium-ion battery, they claim to have nearly tripled the energy density of current li-ion designs. Engineer Sibani Lisa Biswal and research scientist Madhuri Thakur reported in Nature's Scientific Reports (it has yet to be published online) that by taking porous silicon and crushing it, they were able to dramatically decrease the volume required for anode material. Silicon has long been looked at as an anode material because it holds up to ten times more lithium ions than graphite, which is most commonly used commercially. But it's previously been difficult to create a silicon anode with enough surface area to cycle reliably. Silicon also expands when it's lithiated, making it harder to produce a dense anode material. After previously testing a porous silicon 'sponge,' the duo decided to try crushing the sponges to make them more compact. The result is a new battery design that holds a charge of 1,000 milliamp hours per gram through 600 tested charge cycles of two hours charging, two hours discharging. According to the team, current graphite anodes can only handle 350 mAh/g."

Comments

Jesus Christ, it's a Li-ion...

[InvisibleClergy]

get back in the car, this Safari is over!

But...it can never replace gasoline.

[Anonymous Coward]

As we know from recent experience, Lithium is flammable, and something flammable, even explosive, can NEVER replace Gasoline, which is safe and has never burned anybody.

Surely they realize the futility of their methods, and we can go back to our safe and harmless internal combustion engines?

this is getting old

[frovingslosh]

In recent years I've read, right here on Slashdot, about a couple of new li-on breakthroughs that we were told would be giving us 10x improvements, And at least one was claimed to be easily applied to current manufacturing techniques. So why should I believe this? And why should I get excited about a 3X "improvement" when we;ve already been told about 10X improvements?

Re:this is getting old

[Anonymous Coward]

There's several areas which are ripe for improvement in batteries.

1) Power density.
2) Recharge cycles.
3) Charge time.
4) Charge efficiency.
5) Shelf drain.

Even if a certain technology gives a 10x improvement on one of those, it may turn out to have a negative impact on one (or more) of the others, and therefore not be worth marketing.

Example:
My new battery technology improves cuts charge time in half! It also cuts power density by a factor of 3. In certain, specific scenarios it might still be worth using one of these new batteries, but in general, it's won't be.

Re:this is getting old

[Guspaz]

Lithium ion batteries improve at a rate of 8-10% per year. So, if we take into account that a lot of the lab claims are exaggerated, a "10X" breakthrough that actually provides a 2X improvement and takes 7-8 years to hit the consumer market is pretty much in line with the expected curve.

My cellphone battery is almost dead...

[Obfuscant]

My cellphone battery is nearly dead, so please may I squeeze it up between your lovely knockers, my dear? Oh, they're natural? Nevermind...

New Miracle batteries since 1901

[tp1024]

Breakthrough paradigm shifting innovative batteries have been around at least since 1901 and none of them worked.

http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2010/05/the-status-quo-of-electric-cars-better-batteries-same-range.html

(ctrl+f -> miracle batteries)

Technology changes incrementally and not on public demand.

Re:More power, More space, lighter weight

[fahrbot-bot]

A lithium battery holding three times the capacity is significant. This could mean that the range of a EV could be three times, all else equal, or the battery could provide three times the voltage with the same capacity all else equal, or simply the size and weight of the battery could be 1/3rd the size leaving room for other components.

Thanks, Captain Obvious, for clearly explaining the ramifications of "3x" ... :-)

Re:More power, More space, lighter weight

[Githaron]

I'd choose 1/3rd the size and weight.

Forget that, I want a smartphone with battery life that is measured in days instead of hours.