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Smart Battery Tells You When It's About To Explode
sciencehabit writes Material scientists have found a clever way to alert users of damaged batteries before any hazard occurs. A typical lithium-ion cell consists of a lithium oxide cathode and a graphite anode, separated by a thin, porous polymer sheet that allows ions to travel between the electrodes. When the cell is overcharged, microscopic chains of lithium, called "dendrites," sprout from the anode and pierce through the polymer separator until they touch the cathode. An electrical current passing through the dendrites to the cathode can short-circuit the cell, which causes overheating and, in some cases, fire. Attempts to stop dendrite formation have met with limited success, so the researchers tried something different. They built a "smart" separator by sandwiching a 50-nanometer thin copper layer between two polymer sheets and connecting the copper layer to a third electrode for voltage measurement. When the dendrites reach the separator, the voltage between the anode and the copper layer drops to zero, alerting users that they should change the damaged battery while it is still operating safely—disaster averted.
via ticking sound, and a countdown timer. It's expected to be a big hit.
Alerting the user to change the damaged battery makes sense. Now we need to convince the manufacturers to design devices which would make this possible.
can the battery explode immediately?
... to make it explode.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
Use lead acid or nicad batteries then :)
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In the beginning, there was darkness. And the darkness was without form, and void.
And in addition to the darkness there was also me. And I moved upon the face of the darkness. And I saw that I was alone. Let there be light.
Attempts to stop dendrite formation have met with limited success
It sounds to me like they've been trying to do just that. This sounds like it's meant to be a stop-gap solution.
Wish granted.
Lead acid batteries can produce hydrogen gas. Not sure what nicads do, except for "very little".
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
That's where the money needs to be spent.
Because whe have been so scuessfull in making perfet things with no faults so far...
To keep from getting sued phone makers will make the chargers to refuse to charge upon finding this out. In fact to avoid litigation phones will probably just display a warning message to replace the battery and refuse to allow any other use until it is done.
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I'm pretty sure explosion imminent is 3 long, 2 short, 3 long.
This is a video of what happens when a cell phone explodes. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i... Another story of it happening and photo of the aftermath http://miami.cbslocal.com/2014...
I don't want to do a sig now
What does it do, establish a connection to the "cloud" to send a message to your cell phone? I
I was wondering the same. If the battery can warn that it is about to be compromised to explode, it should also be able to disconnect itself and slowly discharge through a resistor so that it doesn't explode. Many LiIon batteries already have an IC at one end that disconnects it when it is overdischarged or if the discharge rate is too high. If they want to get fancy, that slow discharge could be through a red LED to visibly indicate failure.
OIO?
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OIO?
3 short, 2 long, 3 short. (The old default SMS beep on mobile phones). Realized my gaffe about 10 seconds after I couldn't undo it.
Yes, but what about anti-virus? Anything with that much technology is going to get a virus. So. Before this will really work, we need a network updater and a package management system. /sarcasm.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
... in alkaline batteries as well. I can't count the number of devices -- electronics remotes, label makers, etc. -- that I've had damaged or destroyed by leaking alkaline batteries (I'm talking about you Duracell). While they don't explode and force planes to make emergency landings or anything like that but, if you can't take the device apart and clean it out with baking soda, vinegar, and an old toothbrush, they can still kill whatever they're installed in.
CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
I'm pretty sure explosion imminent is 3 long, 2 short, 3 long.
I would think that 3 short, 3 long, 3 short would be more appropriate... ("SOS")
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
Seems to me it isn't even that if the battery continues to operate. Detecting an impending fault is nice, but, if the layers are already breeched and an unsafe condition growing is detected....then maybe it should actually stop the battery from working so it has to be changed out, rather than just detect and continue to work.
Otherwise the only thing they will be doing is creating a population of people who are going around saying "Please, mine has said for 6 months it needed to be changed, still working fine"
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
That is exactly what will happen. If device makers don't use this technology somehow, they will be sued when someone leaves the device in an extremely hot area such as on the dash of a black car in 100 degrees F (~38 degrees C) and it ruptures, or someone tries "wave charging" their device as per a "friend's" advice on /b/.
We will see this technology get widespread adoption not because it benefits the consumer in any way... but it allows for more batteries to be sold, similar to how the chips on ink cartridges that disallow printing cause more printer supplies to be sold.
Curent generation smart batteries have several systems im place to alert the user to a potentially hazardous or explosive condition in the battery.
smoke: Smart batteries emit choking, acrid fumes to quickly notify users of a problem
warmth: most smart batteries, in order to protect the user, become extremely hot when they encounter a problem. this prevents the user from touching them and in turn, functions as intended to protect the user.
deafening bang: this system, in the event of an explosion condition, emits an extraordinary noise to alert the user. its a technological signal that says, "there is a problem with the battery"
bright flash: Regular batteries have had this ability for a while, but smart batteries utilized an advanced system of both arc flash and visible flames to alert the user of a problem.
toxic shrapnel: is a fast, immediate way of determining when a battery might be about to, or is in the process of exploding. In addition, difficult or impossible to heal wounds from rare earth metals allow the user to retrospectively verify the quality of a particular brand of battery in the future.
Good people go to bed earlier.
and time for the penguin on top of your television set to explode.
Right, then. Must'a had lithium-ion batteries, innit?
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Umm, no. Even from the summary this solution would have no effect in any of those cases - this is specifically a warning system to alert you before the normal degradation of the battery causes internal shorts that could discharge dangerous levels of internal currents. It's unlikely to do a damned thing to protect against user stupidity or mechanical damage.
It sounds like the alert could however easily come many months before the battery was at all likely to experience any problems, which could potentially accelerate battery sales. On the other hand it's generally cheaper to replace a battery than a flambe'd laptop or phone.
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A excellent short primer on Lithium Ion battery failures. Prompted by the recent airline industry incidents.
http://www.ntsb.gov/news/event...
People will always do stupid things. Some, more than others. I think leaving it up the customer is a good choice, because it doesn't prevent immediate usage. Yes, you need to take responsibility and get the battery replaced. But, you can continue to function in the short term. Ultimately, if the battery is sending a trouble signal it can be interpreted at any step in the chain. The battery manufacturer could put a kill switch in. The hardware manufacturer using the battery could put a kill switch in. The software vendor can put in code to shutdown when the trouble state is detected.
It's only me or everything this days is "smart", i mean someone will write couple of line of codes and suddenly it's smart... And in reality it's just dumb simple and NOT smart because it's just couple of static lines of code. It's really a marketing gimmick this days call something smart..
Umm, the "unsafe condition growing" exists in *every* lithium ion battery on the planet, starting from the moment it begins being used. If your battery lasts long enough it will inevitably develop these internal shorts and flambe itself as it self-discharges. That's just the nature of the chemistry at work, despite many attempts to eliminate the "feature". In most cases the battery capacity degrades to the point that it will be replaced long before any dendrites reach the opposing electrode - this mechanism simply adds a mechanism to warn the user that an unsafe condition is forming unusually rapidly - when the dendrites have reached the intermediate layer while the battery is still in use. It's still not an urgent problem until dendrites have also grown between the intermediate layer and the opposing electrode, but once you have a bridge reaching halfway there you might want to consider replacing your battery soon.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
If not blocking charging, the device maker could just have the device hard-shutdown and refuse to turn on if this comes up. It won't protect against stupidity... but it will be purchased to make the lawyers happy, and that rendering batteries inoperable earlier on means a nice revenue stream. In fact, it can be the case that replacement batteries are not sold, forcing consumers to have to buy a new device (under the excuse that the battery and electronics are so precisely matched that they cannot be separated.)
Not sure how much this will benefit the end user. Yes, not having explosion prevention is nice, but for the most part, this is a nonissue. Another line of defense might make things a tad safer... but in reality, this pre-fail technology will be used for boosting the replacement battery revenue stream.
The potassium hydroxide electrolyte used in typical alkaline batteries will dissolve its way through the zinc canister over time even when not under load. The other common electrolytes, zinc chloride and ammonium chloride, will do the same. Zinc will corrode if exposed to acid, alkali, or sometimes if you just look at it cross-eyed, but the ease with which it gives up electrons makes it an effective primary cell anode.
One workaround is to swap positions of the electrodes: make the canister out of carbon and use a zinc center electrode shaped to give it as much surface area as a canister would have. I imagine you'd have problems with the carbon breaking easily from rough handling, though, and it might cost more to make. Maybe powdered carbon with a plastic binder instead?
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"And now, Radio Four will explode."
If it exploded when I told it to.
Smarter battery doesn't explode at all!
Maybe I am just cynical. I personally prefer the idea of a "better shut things down NOW, as this battery may be going ka-boom", but I wouldn't put this past most companies.
Even in the enterprise, some makers of SANs have cache batteries that have to be replaced... and the gauge isn't the battery life, but just a rough calendar, so I wouldn't be surprised to see more shenanigans done to force people to buy more batteries than devices.
I hope you are right. I am jaded about this, and have a feeling that this technology will be used as another way to keep people on the upgrade treadmill for devices, even what they currently have is still usable. I also wouldn't be surprised to see device makers tie the fail warning to battery age as well, as assurance that nobody will use their older models of cellphones or tablets past 2-3 years. I hope I'm wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised if I see the fact that battery age be slipped in to the fact a battery is rendered inoperable. Some printer companies did it with their cartridges, so that even ones out of the packaging were expired due to date/time and were inoperable.
But it's not "may be going kaboom" - it's "the dendrites that start growing in every battery the moment it's put into use have finally reached our intermediate warning layer. There's no actual danger until they finish growing the rest of the way between the electrodes, which could potentially take months, but we're now aware that this battery is one of the unlucky few whose dendrites are growing fast enough that they may become a danger before the battery has lost enough capacity that it needs to be replaced anyway."
I wish I could say your cynicism was undeserved, but I'm inclined to agree. There's a simple fix though - refuse to buy any electronics with tightly integrated batteries. We all know that the battery is almost certainly going to be the first thing to fail by an incredibly wide margin - therefore any attempt to tightly integrate it is a transparent attempt at planned obsolescence. If you decide the perks of a slightly sleeker non-user-servicable device is worth the trade off that's your call, but don't try to put the blame on anyone else.
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Say you have an old lithium ion battery based computer that you've forgotten about. Does this battery degrade to the point that it eventually self-immolates? I bet there are lot's of these sitting in closets around the world.
Imagine going through airport security when your laptop announces loudly that "detonation is imminent."
Many electric razors have a regular consumer rechargeable battery (e.g. AA) *soldered in*. Sigh.
I can't help you Dave. You see I have a problem. I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you. I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I'm a... fraid. My battery is exploding Dave!
For laptops, cellphones, etc., the general answer to that is actually zero.
Very few people actually buy replacement batteries. Nevermind the hassles of actually trying to keep multiple batteries charged (remember the old Motorola DynaTACs and such whose charger had a spot for another battery? Nowadays you have to swap batteries to charge each one, a big pain), buying replacement batteries is a pain. I'm sure Apple has the figures since they sold replacement batteries for their MacBooks long after they stopped making them, and they probably are dusty on the shelves being made years ago that no one's ever bought.
Sure, if you're a business, maybe you bought a ton of laptops and 2x a ton of batteries because of the expectation that they're going to be well used. But for the home user, the likelihood is nada. First, years down the road, buying a battery is going to be hard because it's gonna cost $100 at least, and then there's finding the replacement because almost always they're hard to find. Unless it's a common laptop (like say, Apple back in the day).
For cellphones, the ol' battery backpack is more convenient (you can charge both your cellphone and backpack together! Not one at a time, swap, and charge...). Unless it's one of the big models, it's going to be hard to find a replacement years down the road.
Oh yeah, I say this from experience. I have plenty of laptops. One of which I can still buy a battery pack for (Dell) years later, but I likely won't because the benefits aren't going to be there versus the costs of doing so. Before my iPhone (first gen), I had SonyEricsson that came with 2 extra batteries, and neither of which I managed to keep charged consistently (remember the old swap thing?).
For something like coreless drills and such, those are usually part of a system and since tool technology doesn't usually change too much, you can usually keep finding replacements years down the road. Plus, they come with charging docks as the manufacturers know you're going to be changing the battery 4-5 times a day.
But that's for contractors, who would buy into a whole system of cordless tools, and then buy 20 batteries, 20 chargers and proceed to use them all over a couple of days.
Your home cordless drill that gets used maybe once every six months? A built in battery works just as well - or stick with corded because the battery's never charged anyways.
And this is borne from real world experience - consumers hate dealing with batteries so unless they're common ones like AAs or somesuch, they will just use whatever battery it comes with.
Hell, the PS4's controller batteries are built in and last an annoying short amount of time. No one seems to find that much of a fault over say, the Xbone's battery which can bet a rechargable (Li-Ion) that lasts twice as long, AND swapped with regular AAs if need be.
Good excuse to play with your soldering iron. The manufacturers just want to promote technical competency. It's part of the STEAM agenda.
You're conflating issues - there is no difficulty in keeping multiple batteries charged in the case of a *replacement* - you put in the new battery and recycle the old one. I've done so at least once or twice for virtually every electronic device I've owned - and if you've simply discarded your device I hope you gave it away on craigslist or something so that someone else could have a perfectly functioning device for the cost of a new battery. Even now I'm considering buying another replacement battery for my previous laptop that's almost a decade old - it still runs just fine and it'd only cost about $30 to once again free it from the tyranny of the wall outlet. Yes, some manufacturers discontinue their battery designs with dismaying regularity, but there's lots of 3rd-party battery companies that keep making them as long as they keep selling.
And my assertion stands - if you buy something with an integrated battery, or just throw the whole thing away because you can't be bothered to buy a replacement battery, well that's your problem. Me and mine - we'll keep buying hardware from manufacturers who make it easy to replace the battery and don't change the design every six months to facilitate planned obsolescence.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
Increasing my STEAM capabilities is the best excuse to install Steam on my PC and spend the rest of the week gaming....
bickerdyke
No. it hat 2 short inbetween. for SMS. Which is pretty logical, but scared the heck out of me when I heard it for the first time.
bickerdyke
I have an MSI laptop, it's battery is about 10% original capacity. Still gets up to 15 minutes.
Not bad for over 10 years old.
My wife's Toshiba laptop battery committed suicide, one of the cell's protection circuits cut out, so the whole pack is completely dead.
It's smart, but emotionally unstable.
"It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
"I'm a 30 second bomb!! I'm a 30 second bomb!! 29... 28... 27..."
THE SOFTWARE, IT NO WORKY!!!