Posted on 11/25/2008 8:12:11 PM PST by LibWhacker
In what could potentially be a revolutionary breakthrough for everything from laptops to electric cars, a South Korean team of researchers have made a major discovery in Lithium-Ion battery technology. A team of researchers at South Korea’s Hanyung University, led by professor Cho Jaephil, has claimed a discovery that could extend lithium ion battery energy capacity by up to 1000% or more.
The key to Jaephil’s discovery was the application of a three-dimensional porous silicon graphite cathode, which has the ability of holding up to ten times the number of lithium ions as conventional graphite cathodes. Patents have already been applied for. from the press release:
Lithium ion accumulator batteries produce current by moving lithium ions. The battery usually contains a cathode (positive electrode) made of a mixed metal oxide, such as lithium cobalt oxide, and an anode (negative electrode) made of graphite. While the battery is being charged, lithium ions migrate into the anode, where they are stored between the graphite layers. When the battery is being discharged, these ions migrate back to the cathode.If this is for real, it could have a huge impact on the electric vehicle industry. For example, the Tesla Roadster currently gets about 150-200 miles per charge. Imagine having an electric car that gets 1600 miles per charge, with a full charge costing you less than a regular tank of gas. You’re getting more miles for less money, with no fossil fuel use - especially if your electrity comes from a renewable source.
It would be nice to have an anodic material that could store more lithium ions than graphite. Silicon presents an interesting alternative. The problem: silicon expands a great deal while absorbing lithium ions (charging) and shrinks when giving them up (discharging). After several cycles the required thin silicon layers are pulverized and can no longer be charged.
Cho’s team has now developed a new method for the production of a porous silicon anode that can withstand this strain. They annealed silicon dioxide nanoparticles with silicon particles whose outermost silicon atoms have short hydrocarbon chains attached to them at 900 °C under an argon atmosphere. The silicon dioxide particles were removed from the resulting mass by etching. What remained were carbon-coated silicon crystals in a continuous, three-dimensional, highly porous structure.
I have only one question: why was this discovered in Korea and not the United States?
Getting up there with the Star Trek power packs.
Interesting especially if the real world application results are the same as in the laboratory.
Bloody nanotechnology!
Because we don’t graduate engineers anymore. American students all want to be famous or wealthy or both and they want it now. Therefore they major in performing arts, sports or finance. Those pesky math and science course make their little brains hurt. This is another reason why we are slowly becoming a second class country.
How come the Koreans discovered this first......must be stem cell research.
It would be great if true, but we'll see how it works in real world applications and scaled up to electric car battery sizes.
Thats not true,we graduate lots of engineers. Of course most of them are Indian or Korean....
Didn’t this come up about 3 or 4 years ago, and the consensus was that the battery would be too unstable, and might explode?
Thank you for making my point.
yup, no fossil fuels used in warming that argon stuff up to 900 degrees celsius to make the fancy batteries, none used in producing solar cells and windmills for charging them, none used in extruding the plastic body panels, etc...
ping
Maybe I should hold off on buying my new Milwaukee Hammer Drill......hold out for a new battery !!!!
Like, *PING*, dudes.
Like, *PING*, dudes.
Or for transporting the material(s) to the manufacturer and then to the distributor or construction site.
I've had that very same argument with leftards who shouted no blood for oil yet won't address giving up their computers and their site servers, (nor their Playstations), powered by big oil.
ping
Think that was the carbon nanotube based battery where it could be charged up very quickly, but could discharge just as quickly due to an internal short making a considerable boom even with a small battery.
Good point. That “if” your electrity comes from a renewable source is a pretty big IF too. Electric cars would be a major new demand on the electric grid - even if all new cars were electric in 10 years, there is no way we’d have the added electric generation capacity in 10 years, all from renewable sources, to supply the demand of the chargers. Heck, it’ll take 10 years just to get all the environmental impact studies done, much less ok’d.
Not only that, Obama has said he will strongly push policies that would cause electric rates to go through the roof under his “leadership”. So much for saving money on the “fuel”.
I also wonder how far the batteries will be into production before some nasty new problem is found. Don’t get me wrong, I use NiMh and Li-ion batteries quite a bit, but the track record with rechargeables seems to be getting worse, the more exotic they get.
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