Science Daily April 25, 2019 Previously researchers in Austria uncovered that cell ageing in living organisms and in batteries are caused by highly reactive singlet oxygen. Redox mediators play a vital role in the flow of electrons between the exterior circuit and the charge storage material in oxygen batteries and have a considerable impact on their performance. Singlet oxygen also triggers parasitic reactions, which compromise battery life and rechargeability. The researchers identified DABCOnium — which is a salt of the organic nitrogen compound DABCO — as an electrolyte additive which is much more resistant to oxidation and compatible with a […]
Category Archives: Battery technology
Graphene coating could help prevent lithium battery fires
Science Daily April 9, 2019 A team of researchers in the US (University of Illinois, Texas A&M, Argonne National Laboratory) has shown that an atomically thin layer of reduced graphene oxide can suppress oxygen release from LixCoO2 particles and improve their structural stability. They showed that the reduction of Co species from the graphene‐coated samples is delayed when compared with bare cathodes, the rGO layers could suppress O2 formation more effectively due to the strong COcathode bond formation at the interface of rGO/LCO where low coordination oxygens exist. This investigation uncovers a reliable approach for hindering the oxygen release reaction […]
Sodium is the new lithium: Researchers find a way to boost sodium-ion battery performance
Science Daily February 1, 2019 Sodium ion batteries meet the demand for large-scale energy storage. By investing ~4300 candidates via a high-throughput computation, researchers in Japan have identified nanotube-type Na2V3O7 as a cathode material because of its fast sodium diffusivity. High-rate performance was confirmed, showing ~65% capacity retention at a current density of 10C at room temperature, despite the large particle size of >5 μm. But they found that Na2V3O7 underwent deterioration in the final charging stages, which limits the practical storage capacity to the half of theoretical one. In their future experiments, the researchers aim to focus on improving the […]
Lean electrolyte design is a game-changer for magnesium batteries
Science Daily December 21, 2018 Magnesium is far more common and therefore less expensive, and it’s not prone to breaches in its internal structure but magnesium batteries won’t be commercially competitive until they can store and discharge large amounts of energy. Cathode and electrolyte materials have been a stumbling block. Through the optimal combination of organic carbonyl polymer cathodes and Mg-storage-enabling electrolytes, a team of researchers in the US (University of Michigan, industry partner) has demonstrated that high specific energy, power, and cycling stability that are rarely seen in Mg batteries. They showed that in lean electrolyte conditions, the Mg2+-storing […]
Data use draining your battery? Tiny device to speed up memory while also saving power
Eurekalert December 13, 2018 In RRAM, an electrical current is typically driven through a memory cell made up of stacked materials creating a change in resistance that records data as 0s and 1s in memory. A material would need to be robust enough for storing and retrieving data at least trillions of times. A team of researchers in the US (Purdue University, NIST, industry) found that in Molybdenum ditelluride when an electric field is applied to the cell, atoms are displaced by a tiny distance resulting in a state of high resistance which can occur much faster than switching in conventional […]
Materials scientist creates fabric alternative to batteries for wearable devices
Science Daily November 8, 2018 Researchers at UMass, Amherst, have used facile vapor deposition and sewing sequence to create rugged textile microsupercapacitors (MSCs). Conductive threads are vapor-coated with a stably p-doped conducting polymer film and then sewn onto a stretchy textile to form three-dimensional, compactly aligned electrodes with the electrode dimensions defined by the knit structure of the textile backing. The resulting solid-state device has an especially high areal capacitance and energy density sufficient to power contemporary iterations of wearable biosensors. These textile MSCs are super deformable, displaying unchanging electrochemical performance after fully rolling-up the device…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Chemists make breakthrough on road to creating a rechargeable lithium-oxygen battery
Phy.org August 23, 2018 Two of the more serious issues with Lithium – Oxygen battery involve the cell chemistry of (superoxide, LiO2) and the peroxide product (Li2O2) reacting with the porous carbon cathode, degrading the cell from within. And the superoxide consumes the organic electrolyte in the process, which greatly limits the cycle life. Researchers in Canada switched the organic electrolyte to a more stable inorganic molten salt and the porous carbon cathode to a bifunctional metal oxide catalyst. By operating the battery at 150 C, they found that the more stable product Li2O is formed instead of Li2O2. This […]
These lithium-ion batteries can’t catch fire because they harden on impact
Science Daily August 22, 2018 In a lithium-ion battery, a thin piece of plastic separates the two electrodes. If the battery is damaged and the plastic layer fails, the electrodes can come into contact and cause the battery’s liquid electrolyte to catch fire. Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory used perfectly spherical, 200-nanometer-diameter particles of silica suspended in common liquid electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries. On impact, the silica clump together and block the flow of fluids and ions. Uniformly sized particles disperse homogeneously. If they are not homogenously sized, the liquid becomes less viscous on impact. If the electrodes don’t […]
Scientists create biodegradable, paper-based biobatteries
Science Daily August 8, 2018 Researchers at SUNY Binghamton have designed a high‐performance microbial battery using biodegradable paper‐polymer substrate. Poly (amic) acid and poly(pyromellitic dianhydride‐p‐phenylenediamine) are processed and incorporated into a porous, hydrophilic network of intertwined cellulose fibers to revolutionize oxygen‐blocking, proton‐exchanging, and biodegrading properties of the paper‐based microbial biobatteries. The battery exhibits a much higher power‐to‐cost ratio than all previously reported paper‐based microbial batteries. It biodegrades without the requirements of special facilities, conditions, or introduction of other microorganisms… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
A smart safe rechargeable zinc ion battery based on sol-gel transition electrolytes
Phys.org July 20, 2018 Reversible sol-gel transition hydrogels are normally in flowing liquid state at or below room temperature and can transform into stationary gels when heated above a critical temperature and transition can be reversed after cooling down. Researchers in China synthesized a temperature-sensitive sol-gel transition electrolyte comprising proton-incorporated poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) (PNA) incorporating it into a rechargeable Zn/α-MnO2 battery system. After heating above the low critical temperature, a gelation process occurs in the PNA sol-gel electrolyte shutting down the battery. After cooling down, the transition is reversed to liquid state and an original electrochemical performance can be restored. Because […]