Battery tech suitable for future iPhone promises 3x the power density, full charge in minu...
A new battery technology has been developed by a team led by the original creator of lithium-ion battery, promising safer batteries that can hold three times as much power -- and charge in minutes, rather than hours.
A team from the University of Texas, led by 94-year-old John Goodenough has developed what is being called an "all-solid-state" lithium-ion battery cell. Batteries constructed using the new technology are noncombustible, have a long cycle life, and boast much faster rates of charge and discharge.
The technology is scalable to nearly all potential applications including the iPhone, the MacBook Pro, large energy banks like needed in a car, or something like the Tesla PowerWall.
"Cost, safety, energy density, rates of charge and discharge and cycle life are critical for battery-driven cars to be more widely adopted," said Goodenough. "We believe our discovery solves many of the problems that are inherent in today's batteries."
The new technology uses glass electrolyte instead of a liquid solution, and eliminates the "metal whiskers" which can bridge the gabs between positive and negative plates when a cell is charged too quickly. The metal whiskers generated can short the battery and cause fires and explosions.
The glass, made from lithium, sodium, or potassium greatly increases the energy density of the battery, with researchers seeing more than 1200 cycles on a cell, with little impact to life. As a side effect, the batteries still work well down to -20 degrees C (-4 degrees F).
The glass electrolyte technology "simplifies battery cell fabrication" according to the engineering team, and are made from more earth-friendly materials easing recycling and cutting back on the use of rare-earth minerals.
The University of Texas Office of Technology Commercialization is actively negotiating license agreements with multiple companies in the battery industry.
A team from the University of Texas, led by 94-year-old John Goodenough has developed what is being called an "all-solid-state" lithium-ion battery cell. Batteries constructed using the new technology are noncombustible, have a long cycle life, and boast much faster rates of charge and discharge.
The technology is scalable to nearly all potential applications including the iPhone, the MacBook Pro, large energy banks like needed in a car, or something like the Tesla PowerWall.
"Cost, safety, energy density, rates of charge and discharge and cycle life are critical for battery-driven cars to be more widely adopted," said Goodenough. "We believe our discovery solves many of the problems that are inherent in today's batteries."
The new technology uses glass electrolyte instead of a liquid solution, and eliminates the "metal whiskers" which can bridge the gabs between positive and negative plates when a cell is charged too quickly. The metal whiskers generated can short the battery and cause fires and explosions.
The glass, made from lithium, sodium, or potassium greatly increases the energy density of the battery, with researchers seeing more than 1200 cycles on a cell, with little impact to life. As a side effect, the batteries still work well down to -20 degrees C (-4 degrees F).
The glass electrolyte technology "simplifies battery cell fabrication" according to the engineering team, and are made from more earth-friendly materials easing recycling and cutting back on the use of rare-earth minerals.
The University of Texas Office of Technology Commercialization is actively negotiating license agreements with multiple companies in the battery industry.
Comments
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_B._Goodenough
"Batteries constructed using the net technology are noncombustible"...
At least we know Samsung won't be trying them...
The news and press didn't mention the cost saving. But even it is 50% cheaper, it would still be $150, on a cost per energy, ( Similar Li-Ion battery would be less then $30 ) it would still be 5x more expensive. And if you calculate the Margin in the end product, you will likely have to pay $300+ more for a phone with this tech inside.
I am no sure if consumer would spend $300 more for a Phone with 3x larger capacity at the same size.
2) Is this tech a reality or simply one of many battery technologies that show promise in a lab environment? Mike Zimmerman's plastic battery tech shows great promise but I don't think his tech is ready for market.
3) I'd love for the best battery on the market to be called the Goodenough battery.
The future will be with higher performance devices like tablets and laptops where Apple and others will have the design option to trade off battery volume, battery life or performance, or better allow the user to fine tune the device to their workflow. There will need to be more effort to solve thermal dissipation problems in devices, passively, and then we can look forward to workstation performance in Mac Book and iPad devices.
Of course, there are people that still crave the traditional Tower paradigm; can't please everybody.