Science Daily May 5, 2020 The overall electrochemical performance of the semiconductor heterostructures often depends on the carrier mobility from the semiconductor interfaces and faradaic redox reactions from their active sites. An international team of researchers (Pennsylvania State University, China) has developed low-cost, two-step method to controllably grow MnO2 nanorods directly on CoMn2O4 nanosheets with robust adhesion. An induced electric field resulted from the interface effect of heterostructures tailors the kinetic performance of electrons and ions during the charge-discharge process, enhancing the electron mobility and reducing diffusion barrier for charge carriers (OH−) ions migration. As a result, the rational design […]
Tag Archives: Battery technology
A new stretchable battery can power wearable electronics
EurekAlert January 24, 2020 To develop a soft and stretchable battery an international team of researchers (USA – Stanford University, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, China, Singapore) developed a polymer that is solid and stretchable rather than gooey and potentially leaky, and carries an electric charge between the battery’s poles. In lab tests the experimental battery maintained a constant power output even when squeezed, folded and stretched to nearly twice its original length. The thumbnail-sized prototype stores roughly half as much energy, ounce for ounce, as a comparable conventional battery. The team is working to increase the battery’s energy density, build […]
High-performance anode for all-solid-state Li batteries is made of Si nanoparticles
EurekAlert December 23, 2019 In conventional liquid electrolytes, the use of polymeric binders is necessary to hold the active material particles in the electrode together and maintain their adhesion to the surface of metal current collectors. The repeated huge volume change of Si causes the particle isolation and thus leads to losing the active material, which results in a continuous capacity loss. Researchers in Japan have shown that in solid electrolytes, an Si anode composed only of commercial Si nanoparticles prepared by spray deposition exhibits excellent electrode performance, which has previously been observed only for film electrodes prepared by evaporation […]
Researchers create blueprint for ‘quantum battery’ that doesn’t lose charge
Phys.org October 25, 2019 Researchers in Canada have provided a theoretical demonstration that creating a loss-free quantum battery is possible—offering an advantage over previously proposed quantum batteries. To realize their idea, the team considered an open quantum network model with high structural symmetry as a platform for storing excitonic energy. Using this model, they showed it is possible to store energy without any loss, despite being open to an environment. The key is to prepare this quantum network in a dark state when the network cannot exchange energy with its environment, the system becomes immune to all environmental influences. The […]
Assessing battery performance: Compared to what?
Eurekalert May 9, 2019 Industrial engineers and researchers from governmental and academic labs often devise their own procedures for characterizing lithium-ion batteries based on the battery technology’s intended application. According to an international team of researchers (UK, USA – University of Hawaii, Argonne National Laboratory) the appropriateness of a test depends on what the investigator is studying. Their comprehensive review analyses and discusses the various international standards and regulations characterisation and electrical testing of lithium-ion cells, specifically for high-power automotive and grid applications. They produced an easy-to-use table comparing eight test methods, including the main equipment needed, the information generated, and […]
‘Papertronics’ could fold, biodegrade and be the basis for the next generation of devices
Nanowerk September 21, 2018 Researchers at the State University of New York‐Binghamton have developed a bacteria‐powered battery by building microbial fuel cells with inactive, lyophilized exoelectrogenic cells which generates power within minutes of adding saliva. An oxygen‐tight interface and engineered conductive paper reservoir boosts microbial electron transfer efficiency. Exoelectrogenic bacteria preinoculated in the paper battery is freeze‐dried for long‐term storage and can be readily rehydrated for on‐demand power generation. Sixteen microbial fuel cells are incorporated on a single sheet of paper while all are connected in series with two electrical switches mounted on a paper circuit board, produced more than […]
Self-assembling 3D battery would charge in seconds
Science Daily May 17, 2018 Researchers at Cornell University propose a three-dimensional architecture for batteries, where instead of having the batteries’ anode and cathode on either side of a nonconducting separator, intertwine the components. For their proof of concept architecture, they used gyroidal thin films of carbon as anode featuring thousands of periodic pores coated with electronically insulating but ion-conducting separator. They used sulfur as anode backfilling it with an electronically conducting polymer poly[3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene] (PEDOT). According to the researchers, due to the nanoscale dimensions of the battery’s elements it has the potential for very fast charging… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Water-based battery stores solar and wind energy
Science Daily April 30, 2018 A team of researchers in the US (Stanford University, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory) has developed a rechargeable manganese–hydrogen battery, where the cathode is cycled between soluble Mn2+ and solid MnO2 with a two-electron reaction, and the anode is cycled between H2 gas and H2O through catalytic reactions of hydrogen evolution and oxidation. They are confident they can take this table-top technology up to an industrial-grade system that could charge and recharge up to 10,000 times, creating a grid-scale battery with a useful lifespan well over a decade… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Building lithium-sulfur batteries with paper biomass
Science Daily April 2, 2018 A major byproduct in the papermaking industry is lignosulfonate, a sulfonated carbon waste material. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have demonstrated the potential of using lignosulfonate to design sustainable, low-cost electrode materials for lithium-sulfur batteries. In its elemental form, sulfur is nonconductive, but when combined with carbon at elevated temperatures, it becomes highly conductive, allowing it to be used in novel battery technologies. They have created a lithium-sulfur battery prototype that is the size of a watch battery, which can cycle about 200 times. The next step is to scale up the prototype to markedly […]
Charging ahead to higher energy batteries
TechXplore February 26, 2018 The low rate capabilities and low energy densities of the all-solid-state batteries are partly due to a lack of suitable solid-solid heterogeneous interface formation technologies. Researchers in Japan grew garnet-type oxide solid electrolyte crystals in molten LiOH on a substrate that bonded the electrode into a solid state as they grew. They were able to control the thickness and connection area within the cubic layer, which acts as a ceramic separator. Each crystal is connected to neighboring ones. The new technique of stacking solid electrolyte layer could be an ideal ceramic separator with a dense thin-interface […]