Posted on 04/11/2015 6:43:06 PM PDT by concernedcitizen76
"We have developed a rechargeable aluminum battery that may replace existing storage devices, such as alkaline batteries, which are bad for the environment, and lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames," said Hongjie Dai, a professor of chemistry at Stanford. "Our new battery won't catch fire, even if you drill through it."
Durability is another important factor. Aluminum batteries developed at other laboratories usually died after just 100 charge-discharge cycles. But the Stanford battery was able to withstand more than 7,500 cycles without any loss of capacity. "This was the first time an ultra-fast aluminum-ion battery was constructed with stability over thousands of cycles," the authors wrote.
"Our battery produces about half the voltage of a typical lithium battery," he said. "But improving the cathode material could eventually increase the voltage and energy density. Otherwise, our battery has everything else you'd dream that a battery should have: inexpensive electrodes, good safety, high-speed charging, flexibility and long cycle life. I see this as a new battery in its early days. It's quite exciting."
Other co-lead authors of the study affiliated with Stanford are visiting scientists Mengchang Lin from the Taiwan Industrial Technology Research Institute, Bingan Lu from Hunan University, and postdoctoral scholar Yingpeng Wu. Other authors are Di-Yan Wang, Mingyun Guan, Michael Angell, Changxin Chen and Jiang Yang from Stanford; and Bing-Joe Hwang from National Taiwan University of Science and Technology.
Principal support for the research was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Taiwan Industrial Technology Research Institute, the Stanford Global Climate and Energy Project, the Stanford Precourt Institute for Energy and the Taiwan Ministry of Education.
Well, let’s hope it works.
Sounds good. Lithium batteries are already a way better than Ni-Cads. Unfortunately they are also more expensive.
Cool! Let’s see how long it takes for the Chinese to put it in production.
Cue the luddites who are convinced anything that extends battery life is a commie plot and nothing will ever replace gasoline powered cars.
Kool, a beer can and campfire battery.
All the new battery technologies seem to have other problems, one is that high charge rates almost always imply high self-discharge rates. Also, you would have to plug in a nuclear power plant if you think you are going to charge a car battery of decent capacity as quickly as you fill a tank with gas (ok, an exaggeration, but still you would have to actually be at a substation to do this.
However, this is definitely worth a look - even if they are big and bulky and weigh a lot, they might make a nice compliment to stationary solar power, for example. Solar panels last 20 years or so. 7000 charge/discharges = about 20 years of day/night, for example, and the high self-discharge rates might not matter in relatively sunny areas. Aluminum is plentiful and not hard to recycle, also.
Okay, but who is this Al U. Minium guy? ;’) thanks RACPE.
According to the Royal Society article, the Stanford team developed a working prototype battery, and “commercial companies are interested.” Is “interested” the right word? Some of them might be shell shocked. In November 2014, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway paid $4.7 billion to P&G in a stock transaction for cash-cow Duracell.
I will adopt a wait-and-see strategy. If it ever happens, fine. Being a skeptic does not make me a Luddite.
Ever the person who jumps to conclusions. Geez. Keep in mind this article is from the Royal Society of Chemists. That would be in London, England, wouldn’t it? In England, they spell aluminum as aluminium.
Ever the mouthy insulting snarky troll, you need to buy yourself a sense of humor.
This does sound like a possible game-changer for the near-future.
Just humbly offering you a dose of your own medicine.
See, if you were as clever as you make yourself out to be, you would have spelled it “humour.” lol
I'm inclined to agree that this sulphurous back-and-forth is unhealthy.
What does it all mean?
I don't recall seeing how fast it discharges. If it lasts twice as long as it takes to charge, you'd need to keep the 'battery powered' device plugged in.
He’s got a relative Stateside. His name is also Al. Al.U.Minum. When he crossed the Atlantic, he was offered $200 for a vowel. Being broke, he sold it to Pat and Vanna.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.