SolidEnergy Systems: New high-capacity lithium-ion batteries will soon be available and will give you twice the life of your appliances, according to MIT.
The batteries produced by MIT and SolidEnergy Systems differ from conventional lithium-ion batteries as they use a lithium metal sheet instead of graphite as anode material.
Since the metal sheet can hold more ions, it can achieve even higher energy density, which could translate into longer life in wearables, telephones, cars, and unmanned aircraft.
"With two times the density energy, μπορούμε να κάνουμε μια μπαταρία μισή στο μέγεθος, αλλά που εξακολουθεί να διαρκεί το ίδιο χρονικό space, such as a lithium-ion battery. Or we can make a battery the same size as a lithium-ion battery, but it will last twice as long,” Qichao Hu, CEO of SolidEnergy, said via MIT News.
According to Hu, the first SolidEnergy battery will be for drones and will be available this November. SolidEnergy also plans to release smartphone and wearables batteries at the beginning of 2017, while for electric cars from 2018.
Hu co-invented the battery while completing his post-doctoral studies at MIT. With this battery he won several awards and created the company 2012. SolidEnergy has since saved 16,5 millions from two funding rounds. The first came after battery demonstration by Hu (12 million dollars last year).
In the show, Hu presented a prototype of a battery that had half the battery size of the iPhone 6, but with a capacity of 2.0 amp hours, compared to 1.8 amperes arriving at the iPhone 6 battery.
Hu has managed to use a thin sheet of metal to reduce the size of the battery and has created a non-flammable and non-volatile battery that can operate safely at higher temperatures.
Κανονικά, οι μπαταρίες μετάλλου λιθίου λειτουργούν μόνο μέχρι τους 80 °C. Ο Hu κατάφερε να προσπεράσει αυτόν τον περιορισμό με επίστρωση του φύλλου σε ένα λεπτό, στερεό ηλεκτρολύτη που δεν απαιτεί θέρμανση για να λειτουργήσει. Ένας μη εύφλεκτος υγρός ηλεκτρολύτης και ένας μηχανισμός που σταματάει κάθε ανεπιθύμητη αντίδραση του μετάλλου λίθιου συμpays the security framework.
"Combining the solid coating and the new high-performance ionic liquid we have the basis for its technology," says Hu.
