Stanford University scientists have invented the first high-performance aluminum battery that’s fast-charging, long-lasting and inexpensive. The researchers say the new technology could replace many lithium-ion and alkaline batteries in wide use today. Hongjie Dai, a professor of chemistry at Stanford explains, “We have developed a rechargeable aluminum battery that may replace existing storage devices, such as alkaline batteries, which are bad for the environment, and lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames. Our new battery won’t catch fire, even if you drill through it.” Dai and his colleagues describe their novel aluminum-ion battery in “An Ultrafast Rechargeable Aluminum Ion Battery,” which will be published soon in the advance online edition of the journal Nature. 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. Like all batteries, the aluminum-ion battery consists of two electrodes: a negatively charged anode made of aluminum and a positively charged cathode. Dai fills us in, “People have tried different kinds of materials for the cathode.
Read more about Breakthrough Rechargeable Aluminum Battery Announced
No comments:
Post a Comment