Battery Technology

Researchers at the University of California San Diego have improved their recycling process that regenerates degraded cathodes from spent lithium-ion batteries. The new process is safer and uses less energy than their previous method in restoring cathodes to their original capacity and cycle performance. Zheng Chen, a professor of nanoengineering who is affiliated with the…

Inside modern cell phones are billions of nanoscale switches that flip on and off, allowing the phone to function. These switches, called transistors, are controlled by an electrical signal that is delivered via a single battery. This configuration of one battery to power multiple components works well for today’s technologies, but there is room for…

Every year, many are quick to upgrade when new versions of the latest smartphones, tablets or other electronic devices come out, but what happens to all the batteries from the older, discarded devices? A Rice University research team believes that a deep eutectic solvent may be the answer to the growing battery-recycling problem. The solvent…

Scientists have made a surprising discovery about how strange bacteria that live in soil and sediment can conduct electricity. The bacteria do so, the researchers determined, through a seamless biological structure never before seen in nature – a structure scientists can co-opt to miniaturize electronics, create powerful-yet-tiny batteries, build pacemakers without wires and develop a…

If manufacturers of cell-phone batteries could tell which cells will last at least two years, then they could sell only those to phone makers and send the rest to makers of less demanding devices. New research shows how manufacturers could do this. The technique could be used not only to sort manufactured cells but to…

While it has long been known that solid-state batteries are a safer and more energy dense alternative to the lithium-ion batteries commonly used for electric vehicles and personal electronics, challenges remain that prevent them from being implemented on a wider-scale. However, a research team from Cornell University has discovered that by starting with liquid electrolytes…

A team of scientists including researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have identified the causes of degradation in a cathode material for lithium-ion batteries, as well as possible remedies. Their findings, published on Mar. 7 in Advanced Functional Materials, could lead to the development of…

The upcoming energy crisis and increasing power requirements of electronic devices have drawn attention to the field of energy storage. In a paper to be published in the forthcoming issue in NANO, researchers from the China University of Petroleum (East China) have summarized the recent advances in application of 2D nanomaterials on the electrode materials…

Scientists at Tokyo Tech and Okayama University found a way of greatly improving the performance of LiCoO2 cathodes in Li-ion batteries by decorating them with BaTiO3 nanodots. Most importantly, they elucidated the mechanism behind the measured results, concluding that the BaTiO3 nanodots create a special interface through which Li ions can circulate easily, even at…

Rechargeable lithium metal batteries with increased energy density, performance, and safety may be possible with a newly-developed, solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI), according to Penn State researchers. As the demand for higher-energy-density lithium metal batteries increases — for electric vehicles, smartphones, and drones — stability of the SEI has been a critical issue halting their advancement because…

A new theory could enable researchers and industry to tune and improve the performance of a material called ionic ceramics in rechargeable batteries, fuel cells and other energy applications. Ionic ceramics are made up of many faceted “grains” that meet at boundaries in ways that affect, for example, how much power a fuel cell can…

A closer look reveals how speedy charging may hamper battery performance. While gas tanks can be filled in a matter of minutes, charging the battery of an electric car takes much longer. To level the playing field and make electric vehicles more attractive, scientists are working on fast-charging technologies. Fast charging is very important for…

The lithium ion batteries that power electric vehicles and phones charge and discharge by ferrying lithium ions back and forth between two electrodes, an anode and a cathode. The more lithium ions the electrodes are able to absorb and release, the more energy the battery can store. One issue plaguing today’s commercial battery materials is…

Electronic products, electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage closely related to human life create an ever-growing demand for rechargeable batteries. Lithium-ion batteries, which are currently widely used, do not perform well in terms of energy density and safety. As for rechargeable magnesium (Mg) metal batteries developed later, the lack of Mg electrolytes capable of effectively…

Researchers at the Nagoya Institute of Technology (NITech) in Japan have demonstrated that a specific material can act as an efficient battery component for sodium-ion batteries that will compete with lithium-ion batteries for several battery characteristics, especially speed of charge. The findings were published in Scientific Reports in November of 2018 and was headed by…

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) believe 2D materials could make effective catalysts to make lithium-air batteries more efficient, while providing more charge. The research team synthesized several different 2D materials and found that a number of them enabled the battery to hold up to 10 times more energy than lithium-air batteries…

Researchers from the University of Houston and the Toyota Research Institute of America have discovered a promising new version of high-energy magnesium batteries, with potential applications ranging from electric vehicles to battery storage for renewable energy systems. The battery, reported Dec. 21 in Joule, is the first reported to operate with limited electrolytes while using…