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Li-Ion Battery Inventor Creates Breakthrough Solid-State Battery, Holds 3X Charge (fossbytes.com)
A research team led by John Goodenough at the Cockrell School of Engineering (Yes, this is a legitimate story) has created a new fast charging solid-state battery. Decades ago, American physicist John Goodenough co-invented the lithium-ion battery, which is now omnipresent in today's technology. The team has published a research paper in the journal Energy and Environmental Science. Fossbytes reports: The design limitations of lithium batteries containing liquid electrolytes don't allow them to charge quickly. If done forcefully, it would lead to the formation of metal whiskers (dendrites). Eventually, a short circuit would happen, or the battery would explode. However, that's not the problem with the solid-state batteries. The researchers have used a solid glass electrolyte in place of the liquid one. The glass electrolyte allows the researchers to use the alkali metal anode (negative side) which increases the charge density of the battery and prevents the formation of dendrites. Also, the glass electrolyte enables a battery to operate in extreme temperatures of -20-degree celsius. You can read more via The University of Texas at Austin.
I think this one differentiate from the rest in two aspects: first, this one looks much more production-ready than all the others I heard about (TFA says "has more charging cycles, supports fast charging, and isn’t prone to catch fire"). It may be necessary improve mechanical strength (the glass electrolyte can be too brittle for real world applications), maybe voltage or current throughput... what do you think?
And second, this one is from the man that did it once before. For me, it's good enough (^^).
Probably not - no ingredient we've been told about is exceptionally dense.
From Wikipedia Li-ion batteries have 100-265 W.h/kg and 250-676 W.h/L, which implies density of about 2.5kg/L.
This page gives typical density of glass as 2.4 to 2.8 kg/L. Sodium metal has density 0.97 kg/L. So the new cell should have similar or better mass density than the Li-ion cells.
Quattuor res in hoc mundo sanctae sunt: libri, liberi, libertas et liberalitas.
I mean, yeah it's cold. But it's a perfectly normal temperature to see in winter in many places in the world.
-20C is extreme if we are talking about the temperature of a phone in your pocket.
Saw this episode of NOVA, Search for the Super Battery with David Pogue about Tufts University professor and engineer Mike Zimmerman and his solid plastic electrolyte, described here: New Damage-Proof Battery Has Higher Energy Density, Won’t Explode:
But Zimmerman’s battery can withstand repeated damage without risking explosion or fire. In fact, it can continue to power devices even after most of it has been chopped away.
Watched him hit the batter pack it with a hammer, drive nails through it and cut it up with scissors all while the battery kept producing power.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Yes, 1,200+ cycles, faster (or even much faster?) charge and discharge rates (power density) AND mentions being low cost. This, unlike every battery announcement so far, appears to tick off every box it actually needs to. If it all stands up to scrutiny this girl's a billionaire already t(he primary researcher is actually someone from Portugal named Maria. But this being the UT Austin website they mention Goodenough first and foremost cause he's a professor there). There's been plenty of overhyped battery announcements in the past, and obviously we're still using Lithium-ion. But this is the first one I know that actually makes all the right claims to be fully commercializable and replace li-on. So we'll see I guess.
The best electric cars (Tesla) can add about 150 miles of range in 30 minutes at a supercharger station. Stop for lunch for an hour or so, and you can add 200 miles (rate tapers down from the initial rush)
Not much of a problem. Electric cars are popular in Norway, despite Canadian temperatures and current battery technology. There is a simple fix for batteries in cold climate: Insulation and a battery heater. The heating may steal a few percent of range, which is much better than not being able to use the car at all. Insulation ensures that the heating losses are small.
And of course, a battery that only need heating when below -20C is much better than current batteries that like being heated up to +20C. (Which is what we call "summer temperature" here.) 3x capacity - even better!