MIT and Samsung Researching Solid-State Batteries

jones_supa writes: Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Samsung have developed a new approach to one of the three basic components of batteries, the electrolyte. The new findings are based on the idea that a solid electrolyte, rather than liquid, could greatly improve both device lifetime and safety, while also providing a significant boost in power density. The new type of electrolyte would also cope better in cold temperatures. The results are reported in the journal Nature Materials in a paper by MIT postdoc Yan Wang, visiting professor of materials science and engineering Gerbrand Ceder, and five others.

Comments

This is good.

[WSOGMM]

Improvements in battery technology are one of the most important stepping stones in getting us to that Star Trek utopia. Obviously they're used everywhere, but with 'perfect' battery technology, you don't need to worry about peak load energy production (ie, you can produce clean energy sporadically and save it if power demand isn't high enough), you don't need gasoline for cars, and your smartphones won't take hours to charge.

It seems that the main advantage of this breakthrough is, among other benefits, eliminating the heating problems associated with high energy devices like car batteries. One of the biggest problems people have with electric cars is that you can't charge them faster than you can fill up a tank of gas. FTFA:

The electrolyte in such batteries — typically a liquid organic solvent whose function is to transport charged particles from one of a battery’s two electrodes to the other during charging and discharging — has been responsible for the overheating and fires... The lithium itself is not flammable in the state it’s in in these batteries.

This is big, and I'm excited. Don't get me wrong, this isn't an overall solution to our dirty energy practices and clunky smartphones, but it's a big step in the right direction. Surely there will be design hurdles to overcome, which will probably delay implementation for some time, but this century is going to be great if we don't fuck it up too bad.

Also, if you can get past the paywall, here's a link to the nature materials article that the article didn't have: http://www.nature.com/nmat/jou...

Re:This is good.

[sribe]

...you still couldn't draw enough power from the grid to get enough energy to saturate the battery in that time.

Indeed, it's a substantial power draw required to charge a car in a minute or two. Gas pumps can put out about 10gal/min, so 2 minutes is a reasonable max time to use for comparison purposes. To get a Tesla's 85kWh in 2 minutes from 230-volt 2-phase, that would be about 400A, which is twice the power supply to a typical house. (And of course that 85kWh does not get you as far as the 20gal of gas would; but still I don't think consumers will be doing those calculations; what they'll be doing is driving away reasonably happy if the "fill up" takes a minute or two, but annoyed if it takes 10-15, and if it takes 30, that's a huge limit on acceptance of electric vehicles. Also, there's the economic model for the business, having cars drive up, spend a minute or two and pay, then drive away is a viable business. Having cars take 10-15 is not; too much land and too many stations required.)

So the "gas station" of the future, despite being an itty-bitty building, would probably need electric service similar to a smallish office building. Way more than they have now, but certainly doable, certainly power at a level that is pretty common for commercial developments. (And, BTW, they certainly wouldn't deliver 230V @ 400A, that would be a copper cable that would resemble current gas hoses in diameter, too heavy and stiff to be practical. I'd think they'd have to bring 2.5kV, or maybe even 25kV down to the building and out to the charging stations.)

But right now none of that matters, because batteries can't take charge fast enough. The current (haha) bottleneck in charging speed is batteries, if that limit is lifted significantly, then it would on to the next bottleneck. (Or, ideally, things get planned well enough to evolve roughly together...) And of course big batteries at the "gas station" have all sorts of potential uses as well: smoothing demand by loading up ahead of peak business, loading up at off-peak rates, storing the output of on-site solar, cheating and draining the batteries of cars when they hook up (OK, maybe that last one is not a sustainable business model)

Re:This is good.

[jbmartin6]

Probably the 'fuel station' would go the way of the dodo and other establishments like stores, restaurants, etc. will offer 'charge while you eat/shop/go to the bathroom/sleep' service in the parking lot.

Re:This is good.

[ShanghaiBill]

having cars drive up, spend a minute or two and pay, then drive away is a viable business. Having cars take 10-15 is not; too much land and too many stations required.)

Keep in mind that a gas station can take up a quarter acre or more. But an electric charging station is the size of a parking meter. Since they require no infrastructure other than power, they can be dispersed. Existing charging stations are placed near restaurants or shopping centers, where people are going to park anyway, and they can use the downtime to eat and shop.

My wife owns a Tesla. She won't let me drive it, but she will let me ride in the passenger seat. We have taken some longish trips, and have to stop every 3 hours or so, vs. every 6 hours with a gas car. It is a bit of a hassle, but not a deal breaker. However, she uses it mostly for commuting, and only rarely for long trips.

Re:This is good.

[mark-t]

My wife owns a Tesla. She won't let me drive it....

Dude, wtf? Is your driving really that terrible that nobody with an ounce of sense trusts you to drive their car, or are you saying something that's probably more than anyone here needed to know about the state of your marriage? I don't know which is worse for you, honestly.

Re:multirotor aircraft

[Applehu Akbar]

"The biggest limitation to flight time on multirotors right now is the battery."

I thought it was buckshot from rednecks.