New Research Could Make Batteries Last Five Times Longer

Just a couple of days back we witnessed a sensational development in Organic Radical Batteries by Hiroshima University. But due to technical complicacy, such an environment friendly system would take too long to commercialize and so far, only small steps have been initiated in the laboratory. So, what's the best alternative for the time being? A research team from the University of Texas at Dallas has discovered an efficient battery that could last 5% more than contemporary ones.

A team led by Dr. Kyeongjae Cho, professor of Materials science and engineering at the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Texas at Dallas, has innovated a catalyst for Lithium-air batteries which boosts the life span of these batteries and could produce a fruitful result. Dr. Cho explained that Lithium-oxygen batteries show enormous potential and demand commercialization, however due to the lack of a correct approach, the process falters mid-way. The team is however hopeful, that their research would soon have widespread applications.

zheng-yongping-experiment_image
Yongping Zheng focuses on the electrolyte catalysts inside the batter

Lithium-Oxygen (also called as Li-air) batteries take the help of the available oxygen molecules in the positive electrode. Then O2 reacts with the positive lithium ions to generate Lithium peroxide which gives birth to electricity. This inherent reaction causes the Li-air battery to have 10 times more energy density than Li-ion batteries, which in turn expands the storage capacity of renewable energy. For convenience, the team cites an example, which says that at one fifth of the cost and weight associated with present batteries, a smartphone could store energy for more than a week without recharging, if a Li-air battery is used.

Dr. Cho mentioned that even though the research objective has undergone innumerable researches, due to a lack of clarity, none were able to prove their points and the system had become unstable. To aid the system, the team devised a catalyst based method. They customized soluble organic electrolyte catalysts that were unquestionably proven to be very viable in terms of efficiency.

The team further added that their research needs more time to grow, but we could soon have the day when would find the battery up and running. The research was published in the ‘Nature’ energy and was funded and supported by the Hyundai Motor Company and the National Research Foundation of Korea.

Source: #-Link-Snipped-#

Replies

You are reading an archived discussion.

Related Posts

ZenFone Max, a new flagship device from the Asus, has recently been launched in India at a price starting from INR 8,999. The device is available for sale in India...
I'm looking for Country / State (Region) / City data in JSON format. I thought I'd easily find a database (or even a web service) that lets me populate the...
In spite of their weight and portability issues, Bluetooth speakers are growing in popularity in the consumer electronics market. Xander Audios, an emerging Audio solutions company has emerged in the...
Japan based Consumer Electronics giant Panasonic has released its new DJ-1200 headphones, giving special focus to Disc Jockeys who require ultra high performance to carry out their job efficiently. This...
Many of us may recall our introductory computing classes in school where we were first introduced to the Indian Super Computer, PARAM. With Russian collaboration it was a big hit,...