Posted on 12/27/2007 11:43:25 PM PST by PeaceBeWithYou
Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices.The new version, developed through research led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries. A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours, a boon to ocean-hopping business travelers.
"It's not a small improvement," Cui said. "It's a revolutionary development."
The breakthrough is described in a paper, "High-performance lithium battery anodes using silicon nanowires," published online Dec. 16 in Nature Nanotechnology, written by Cui, his graduate chemistry student Candace Chan and five others.
The greatly expanded storage capacity could make Li-ion batteries attractive to electric car manufacturers. Cui suggested that they could also be used in homes or offices to store electricity generated by rooftop solar panels.
"Given the mature infrastructure behind silicon, this new technology can be pushed to real life quickly," Cui said.
The electrical storage capacity of a Li-ion battery is limited by how much lithium can be held in the battery's anode, which is typically made of carbon. Silicon has a much higher capacity than carbon, but also has a drawback.
Silicon placed in a battery swells as it absorbs positively charged lithium atoms during charging, then shrinks during use (i.e., when playing your iPod) as the lithium is drawn out of the silicon. This expand/shrink cycle typically causes the silicon (often in the form of particles or a thin film) to pulverize, degrading the performance of the battery.
Cui's battery gets around this problem with nanotechnology. The lithium is stored in a forest of tiny silicon nanowires, each with a diameter one-thousandth the thickness of a sheet of paper. The nanowires inflate four times their normal size as they soak up lithium. But, unlike other silicon shapes, they do not fracture.
Research on silicon in batteries began three decades ago. Chan explained: "The people kind of gave up on it because the capacity wasn't high enough and the cycle life wasn't good enough. And it was just because of the shape they were using. It was just too big, and they couldn't undergo the volume changes."
Then, along came silicon nanowires. "We just kind of put them together," Chan said.
For their experiments, Chan grew the nanowires on a stainless steel substrate, providing an excellent electrical connection. "It was a fantastic moment when Candace told me it was working," Cui said.
Cui said that a patent application has been filed. He is considering formation of a company or an agreement with a battery manufacturer. Manufacturing the nanowire batteries would require "one or two different steps, but the process can certainly be scaled up," he added. "It's a well understood process."
Also contributing to the paper in Nature Nanotechnology were Halin Peng and Robert A. Huggins of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford, Gao Liu of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Kevin McIlwrath and Xiao Feng Zhang of the electron microscope division of Hitachi High Technologies in Pleasanton, Calif.
Cool post. Thanks.
those Asians......
Most excellent.
Technology marches onward.
I hate to be a gloomy Gus...But in a way I hate reading stories about breakthroughs like this, because it seems to take forever before they hit the production lines.
I’ve been watching and waiting for several to actually jhit the market at a decent price point. If they ever come to market ar all. Still lookin for my 25’ roll-up OLED TV screen for years and years now. and haven’t seen anyone marketing electric and heat co-generator home systems that run off of the natural gas line...Yep! It’s proven tech...you can get heat, cookinf=g and Electricity from one very efficient and inexpensive appliance hooked to your gas line.
OLED TVs too. They’re putting out that dinky 10” screen for 2K...one of OLEDs major factors for replacing LCDs, is they are actually MUCH CHEAPER to make!
Well, amybe I’ll still be alive to see these batteries in the supermarket...but I doubt it.
(DGHoodini steps down from his soapbox.)
CORRECTION: that was supposed to read: 25” roll-up OLED TV.
It’s amazing what science comes up with. Battery technology is important, but there are limited supplies of lithium available.
Way cool.
I am still waiting for my personal jetpack and hovercar.
Between Gore & Paul, they should be able to spare enough.
I hear ya, Brudda! ;o)
Maybe this will shut up the crowd thats been boo-hooing the electric car.
This makes really some good news, everyone has had the mindset that batteries will always be big, bulky and expensive, not so! Battery technology is advancing faster than computer CPU speed was in the mid 90’s.
If this is true 20X the energy density of existing Lithium Ion batteries, then this should put electric vehicle’s in showrooms.
Ironically, the liberals will be really ticked, since we will all be able to still drive Hummers.
Lithium ion battery ping
bttt
bump
Not true-there is more lithium around than we'll ever need. And, just like lead in batteries currently, it will mostly be recycled.
You also have to add in the usable life of the batteries, too. If you're going to have to spend $15K in 5-8 years to replace them, there isn't much advantage.
We'll be seeing truly competitive, viable electric commuter cars within about 5 years, though....and the 0-60 mph performance will be "blistering".......
Usually they never hit the production line, because there is some major drawback that is never mentioned in the press releases.
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