Sunday, November 20, 2011

Better Batteries: New technology improves both energy Capacity and Charge (ORR)

There are batteries called "Lithium-ion batteries" which are in cellphones, ipods, etc..., and these batteries are rechargeable. Engineers invented a new type of them and now they can hold the charge ten times as much as they normally do on cellphones or ipods. Not only that. In the article they write that the batteries charge even 10 times as fast as they do normally. That means that a cellphone only needs to charge 15 minutes. They also thought of making these batteries for small electric cars. The engineers are still working on these batteries but it will take about three to five more years until someone can buy these batteries. The guy who invented this new type of battery is called "Harold H. He says that, "Even after 150 charges, which would be one year or more of operation, the battery is still five times more efficient than lithium-ion batteries." He is a professor of an engineering school. Lithium-ion batteries work with chemical reactions where there is the anode and the cathode. They sent signals between each other. In the battery there is a carbon plate which holds the lithium. Engineers tried to change the carbon with silicon because silicon can hold more lithium atoms then carbon. Sadly that did not work because the silicon would interrupt the other parts and then it would not work at all because the battery would loose its charge very fast. When you want to charge you cell phone it always takes so long because the lithium-ion has to travel to the other side, inside the phone, then something like a traffic jam with lithium-ions happens. That is what engineers want to change on their new battery type.

No comments:

Post a Comment