New Battery Technology Charges in Seconds
For the successful takeover of alternative energy over conventional sources of energy we need a good battery technology too for power storage. The devices we want to keep on using need to be recharged. And we all know that recharge takes hours whether it’s our mobiles or laptops. If the researchers from MIT has implemented the know-how of these lithium-ion batteries, successfully then our waiting hours for recharge will be over.
This breakthrough can be achieved in two years. MIT scientists are hopeful that this battery can recharge a device in seconds. Gerbrand Ceder, who is the professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), said, “If you can charge your phone in 30 seconds, that becomes a life changer.” He also explains, “It could change the way we think about technology like this: you would literally be able to charge up while you stand and wait.”
This development can transform the power storage technology and can help hybrid cars or electric cars and give the necessary push to renewable energy. This expertise can reduce the weight and size of the batteries and our devices can be charged within few seconds.
The researchers, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have already made a small prototype cell that charges fully in 10 to 20 seconds, compared with six minutes for cells made in the standard way. The researchers are of the view that this technology will be available commercially within two to three years, because they are not using some new material. They have also nicknamed this technology as the “beltway battery”, after the orbital motorway in Washington DC. His lithium-ion battery utilizes a bypass system that allows the lithium-ions to enter and leave the battery speedily. The scientists discovered that by coating particles of lithium iron phosphate in a glassy material called lithium pyrophosphate, ions behave differently. These ions can bypass the channels and move more quickly. As we are acquainted with the fact that rechargeable batteries store up and discharge energy as charged atoms, known as ions, from between two electrodes called the anode and the cathode. Their charge and discharge rate are restricted by the speed with which these ions move.
If MIT scientists successfully complete this project for commercial use, we can charge electric car batteries in less than one hour. Till now recharging is one of the greatest hurdles for mass production of electric cars. Solar and wind energy generation can also be benefited with this breakthrough. This lithium-ion battery can be utilized for storage of excess energy.
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March 19th, 2009
Wow! Sounds like a major milestone is about to be reached. This with a combination of a battery structure that would deliver more than a 40 mile charge would be earth-shaking!
March 20th, 2009
This is a major breakthrough and great news for … I think everyone! I really hope this technology will be commercialized within in the next 2-3 years.
July 20th, 2009
Now imagine this combined with WiTricity’s wireless electric, you’ve got yourself a fully charged phone wherever.
August 5th, 2009
SAE (the Society of Automotive Engineers) has made videos available from their conference on Green Mobility called the World Congress 2009 here at vcc-sae.org. This video is about New Battery Technologies: http://vcc-sae.org/videos/5-new-battery-technology-path-best-combination-range-durability-and-cost
August 21st, 2009
Lithium will never be the battery for large scale facilities as this article suggests. There are several reasons. Read this article to understand about Vanadium and the revolution in batteries that will bring solar and wind to 10-20% contribution to the Power Grid : http://discovermagazine.com/2008/oct/29-the-element-that-could-change-the-world
December 23rd, 2009
Hi guys, I would like to see that. A big problem for EV’s are the clowns who make wild statements and the spruikers who talk the market up with wild claims. There are certain realities with charging an EV with high volume current. Any one seriously interested in battery technology only has to look at the maths of charging. A simple exercise, about grade 5 level. Assume a car travelling 150 miles at 50 amps at 100 volt electric motor. Does not take a Rhodes Scholar to see instant charging is a long way away.
Forget lithium batteries, fuel cell technology will provide a continuous supply of energy to power an EV. It will be fuel Cell technology that will take us into the future.
December 24th, 2009
Vanadium batteries for cars will be recharged by a simple instant battery swap, like we do now for propane tanks. INSTANT recharging when on the go. That’s even better than the time spent today at the gas pump. So please put that argument to bed and wake up and smell the gas-free air coming soon.
December 24th, 2009
At the turn of the last century the cities of the world were choking to death on coal and wood burning and the streets were putrid with too much horse dung. It only took 5 years from the day the first Model T rolled off the assembly line to find not a single horse on the streets of any sizable city or town in the western world, and every home to switch to gas. When faced with a dire situation humanity has proven that huge paradigm shifts, empowered by new technologies, can sweep across the globe in months and years, not decades. I truly believe we will see the end of gasoline powered personal vehicles in our lifetime. The money to be made on electric vehicles and the rest of the “batterification” of our world is a unique opportunity worth investing in.