University of California Researchers Use Sand To Increase Efficiency of Batteries By Three Times
Researchers at the University of California have found an inexpensive and environment friendly way to increase the efficiency of lithium ion batteries by up to three times by using sand. In the past graphite was considered as the ideal material for anodes but as electronics got more powerful the potential of improving efficiency of graphite was tapped out. Researchers then started concentrating their efforts on using silicon at nanoscale levels to find a replacement for graphite. This idea has too had its pitfalls as nanoscale silicon has difficult to produce in large quantities and it degraded quickly. Zachary Favors, a graduate student at the UC Riverside who was interested in this research came across the potential of sand when he was relaxing at a beach. He searched for a location in the United States where the percentage of quartz in sand was the highest and soon came across Cedar Creek Reservoir located near Dallas. He collected samples from the location and headed back to his laboratory.
From left, (b) unpurified sand, (c) purified sand, and (d) vials of unpurified sand, purified sand, and nano silicon.
After milling the sand in nanometer scale he purified it which changed its colour to bright white from brown. He proceeded to ground salt and magnesium into purified quartz. The mixture was then heated with the salt acting as a heat absorber. The magnesium in the mixture removed the oxygen from quartz producing pure silicon. The team was surprised to find that the nano-silicon produced in this process has a 3-D silicon sponge like consistency which was the key in improving performance of batteries built with the substance.
The team is speculating that their breakthrough can increase the lifespan of silicon based electric vehicle batteries up to three times or more which will help customers save money on replacement batteries. Cell phone batteries produced with the help of the technology will have similar increase in backup times. You can read more about this development on the #-Link-Snipped-# and for a more detailed read you can refer #-Link-Snipped-# published in the Nature Scientific Reports journal.
From left, (b) unpurified sand, (c) purified sand, and (d) vials of unpurified sand, purified sand, and nano silicon.
After milling the sand in nanometer scale he purified it which changed its colour to bright white from brown. He proceeded to ground salt and magnesium into purified quartz. The mixture was then heated with the salt acting as a heat absorber. The magnesium in the mixture removed the oxygen from quartz producing pure silicon. The team was surprised to find that the nano-silicon produced in this process has a 3-D silicon sponge like consistency which was the key in improving performance of batteries built with the substance.
The team is speculating that their breakthrough can increase the lifespan of silicon based electric vehicle batteries up to three times or more which will help customers save money on replacement batteries. Cell phone batteries produced with the help of the technology will have similar increase in backup times. You can read more about this development on the #-Link-Snipped-# and for a more detailed read you can refer #-Link-Snipped-# published in the Nature Scientific Reports journal.
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