Stanford Develops Fast-Charging, Stable Aluminum Battery

An anonymous reader writes: Stanford researchers have announced the creation of an aluminum-ion battery that they say will charge quicker, last longer, and be generally safer than common lithium-ion batteries. "Aluminum has long been an attractive material for batteries, mainly because of its low cost, low flammability and high-charge storage capacity. For decades, researchers have tried unsuccessfully to develop a commercially viable aluminum-ion battery. A key challenge has been finding materials capable of producing sufficient voltage after repeated cycles of charging and discharging. ... For the experimental battery, the Stanford team placed the aluminum anode and graphite cathode, along with an ionic liquid electrolyte, inside a flexible, polymer-coated pouch." The researchers' main challenges now are getting the battery to produce a higher voltage and store energy at a higher densities.

Comments

Re:Tweet today from Elon Musk

[pushing-robot]

True, but an Al-ion battery definitely has potential*, even if this team hasn't achieved it yet.

Al also has ~5x the physical density of Li at ~1/5th the price, so even if it doesn't outperform Li's energy density for a while it will still be better for many applications.

* groan