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Development could change future smartphone, laptop and car battery technologies Scientists have found a way of using alternative metals in lithium-based batteries that might not only help relieve the issues associated with conflict materials, but also offer more storage capacity in future devices. The research team, led by professors at the University of California, Berkeley, managed to build lithium cathodes with 50 per cent more storage capacity than conventional materials - potentially enabling batteries to be made that can last considerably longer between recharges than current battery technology. This could change how we use technology in the future as these...

Brookhaven National Laboratory scientists have observed an unexpected phenomenon in lithium-ion batteries – the most common type of battery used to power cell phones and electric cars. As a model battery generated electric current, the scientists witnessed the concentration of lithium inside individual nanoparticles reverse at a certain point, instead of constantly increasing. This discovery, published in the journal Science Advances, is a major step toward improving the battery life of consumer electronics. Esther Takeuchi, a SUNY distinguished professor at Stony Brook University and a chief scientist in the Energy Sciences Directorate at Brookhaven Lab said, “If you have a...

"As I went to turn around I felt burning on my face," the woman said "I grabbed them off and threw them on the floor. They were sparking and had small amounts of fire." (AFP Photo/Handout) Sydney (AFP) - A woman whose headphones caught fire on a plane suffered burns to her face and hands, Australian officials said Wednesday as they warned about the dangers of battery-operated devices in-flight. The passenger was listening to music on her own battery-operated headphones as she dozed about two hours into the trip from Beijing to Melbourne on February 19 when there was a...

Japan's first submarine to be powered by lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries will be commissioned in March 2020, doing away with lead-acid batteries and a Stirling air-independent propulsion (AIP) system. With the arrival of this eleventh Soryu-class submarine the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) will be the world's first navy to field a conventional submarine powered by Li-ion batteries. VAdm (Retired) Masao Kobayashi, former commander of the JMSDF's Fleet Submarine Force, explained at UDT Asia in Singapore on 18 January that the new type 'will change conventional submarine operations dramatically'. While Li-ion batteries offered similar endurance to an AIP system combined with...

In situ transmission electron microscopy at EMSL was used to study structural changes in the team’s new anode system. Real-time measurements show silicon nanoparticles inside carbon shells before (left) and after (right) lithiation. + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + -+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + -+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + -+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + -...

A new concept for a flow battery functions like an old hourglass or egg timer, with particles (in this case carried as a slurry) flowing through a narrow opening from one tank to another. The flow can then be reversed by turning the device over. Credit: Image courtesy of the researchers ================================================================================================================== A new approach to the design of a liquid battery, using a passive, gravity-fed arrangement similar to an old-fashioned hourglass, could offer great advantages due to the system's low cost and the simplicity of its design and operation, says a team of MIT researchers who have made a...

Lithium ions react with silicon to form a new compound, which causes the electrode to expand. Researchers found that flouroethylene carbonate molecules produce a rubber-like protective layer that can accommodate the electrode expansion. Credit: Sana Sandler/Sarah Schlieder _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Imagine a cell a phone that charges in less than an hour and lasts for three to four days or an electric car that runs for hundreds of miles before needing to be plugged in. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory are working to make this dream a reality by developing lithium-ion batteries containing silicon-based materials. The most...

Chief executive Elon Musk announced the firm would build batteries that store solar energy and serve as a back-up system for consumers during blackouts. The device would allow consumers to get off a power grid or bring energy to remote areas that are not on a grid. Tesla plans to start shipping the units to installers in the US by this summer. In a highly anticipated event near Los Angeles, Mr Musk said the move could help change the "entire energy infrastructure of the world". "Tesla Energy is a critical step in this mission to enable zero emission power generation,"...

Aluminium ions are stored between layers of graphite when the battery is charged A new rival to the lithium-ion battery has been created that charges in under a minute and still performs almost perfectly after being recharged thousands of times. The new battery is based on aluminium instead of lithium, which should make it both cheaper and safer than their lithium-ion competitors. The U.S. team behind the aluminium-ion battery say that the technology could find its way into the home, help store renewable energy for the power grid and even power vehicles. The aluminium-ion battery is conceptually similar to the...

After three recent fires, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk said he asked the National Highway Tranportation Safety Administration to investigate its Model S. NHTSA said no he didn’t. Tesla has been saying it received the highest safety rating in the U.S., a “new combined record of 5.4 stars.” NHTSA says there’s no such thing. Musk said he expects the investigation will clear Tesla after incidents in which metal objects struck the underside where the Model S battery is located. NHTSA says we’ll see, and a decision whether there should be a recall will likely take months. Maybe a lie...

A fire (screen capture from Jalopnik.com) that torched a Model S from the formerly Teflon Tesla Motors on Tuesday blackened its front end, lowered its stock price, and (further) revealed a corporate arrogance not seen since Fisker Karmas were alight. But CEO Elon Musk saw to it that taxpayers werefully paid back their $465 million Department of Energy loan, so as watchdogs over the public purse we can forget all about it and just go on about our business – right? Wrong. The incident near Seattle still should be of great concern because Tesla still heavily depends on tax breaks...

(snip, from the actual AAIB report at link below) Safety Recommendation 2013-016 It is recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration initiate action for making inert the Honeywell International RESCU406AFN fixed Emergency Locator Transmitter system in Boeing 787 aircraft until appropriate airworthiness actions can be completed. Safety Recommendation 2013-017 It is recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration, in association with other regulatory authorities, conduct a safety review of installations of Lithium-powered Emergency Locator Transmitter systems in other aircraft types and, where appropriate, initiate airworthiness action. (snip, from abcnews.go link above) The FAA didn't immediately say whether it will follow the recommendations....

Now that Boeing has placed most of its 787s back into service, including those inUnited Airlines’ fleet, executives with both corporations are putting a happy face on the expensive hardship that was caused by the four-month grounding of the planes due to fire hazard risks. United reinstated the so-called Dreamliners on May 20, when United CEO Jeff Smisek and Boeing CEO Jim McNerney hopped a flight from Houston to Chicago to show the troubles with the plane’s lithium ion batteries were behind them. "I’ll tell you, Jim,” said Smisek, as recounted by the Associated Press, “it was a fairly expensive...

It appears that the Mainstream Media folks may finally be starting to expose one of the worst cases of taxpayer abuse that this country has ever seen. Kudos to Deepa Seetharaman who wrote a piece for Reuters which questions the feasibility of the government-subsidized, lithium-ion based battery technology behind electric vehicles (EVs) like the Chevy Volt. While Seetharaman acknowledges the limitations of lithium-ion batteries, what remains unchallenged is the continued waste of billions of taxpayer dollars to support the failing, pseudo-green technology. The evidence that the Obama Administration's EV subsidization has been a costly fiasco (particularly regarding the Chevy Volt...

With the revelation that All Nippon Airways replaced defectivelithium ion batteries 10 times,Japan Air Lines replaced“quite a few,” andUnited Airlines replaced “multiple batteries,” in the months preceding the smoke emergency that grounded their Dreamliners, is there anything that can be said about the technology that can overcome its now-horrible reputation? Boeing has worked on the 787 for 10 years or so, with an ample amount of time to determine what kind of battery technology would be functional with the“super-efficient” jet with “exceptional environmental performance.” Had the Chicago-based manufacturer –and its airline customers – concerned themselves more with achievable plans that...

(Reuters) - China's largest auto parts maker won U.S. government approval to buy A123 Systems Inc (AONEQ.PK), a maker of electric car batteries, despite warnings by some lawmakers that the deal would transfer sensitive technology developed with U.S. government money. The sale of the lithium-ion battery maker to a U.S. unit of Wanxiang Group was approved by a U.S. government committee on foreign investment, according to a statement from the Chinese company. Last month, Wanxiang's U.S. unit agreed to pay $257 million for A123's automotive battery business and related assets in a bankruptcy auction, beating U.S. rival Johnson Controls Inc...

In its most recent 8K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Li-ion battery maker A123 Systems said a number of circumstances have raised “substantial doubt on [its] ability to continue as a going concern.” On 26 March, A123 launched a field campaign estimated to cost US$51.6 million to replace battery modules and packs that may contain defective prismatic cells produced at A123’s Livonia, Michigan manufacturing facility. The defect could have resulted in premature failure of the battery module or pack, including a decrease in performance and reduced battery life. (Earlier post.)

One of the auto industry's most closely guarded secrets, the enormous cost of batteries for electric cars, has spilled out. Speaking at a forum on green technology, Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally indicated battery packs for the company's Focus electric car costs between $12,000 and $15,000 apiece. "When you move into an all-electric vehicle, the battery size moves up to around 23 kilowatt hours, [and] it weighs around 600 to 700 pounds," Mulally said at Fortune magazine's Brainstorm Green conference in California. "They're around $12,000 to $15,000 [a battery]" for a type of car that normally sells for about...

General Motors has been quick to allay concerns that the Chevy Volt had anything to do with an explosion at a testing facility that appears to have injured five workers, one possibly seriously. The explosion has been attributed to gases from a lithium-based prototype battery being developed at GM's tech center. While the incident should not serve as an indictment against the Volt, concerns about volatile lithium-ion batteries are legitimate. Initial reports on the accident vary as to the severity of the injuries to workers with some sources describing "life threatening" injuries to one woman and others stating that...

A binding agent found in everything from ice cream to cosmetics could let lithium-ion cells hold much more energy. Lithium-ion batteries could hold up to 10 times as much energy per cell if silicon anodes were used instead of graphite ones. But manufacturers don't use silicon because such anodes degrade quickly as the battery is charged and discharged. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Clemson University think they might have found the ingredient that will make silicon anodes work—a common binding agent and food additive derived from algae and used in many household products. They say this material...