Batteries suck, you know it, I know it, we all know it and it's the one thing everyone
on Earth can come together and sing about.
Will this new technology be the hero we deserve?
Hey friends, countrymen, battery haters, this is DNews, I'm Trace.
A battery is typically two metals, one that gives up electrons (called an anode), and
one that takes them (called a cathode), connected through an electrolyte -- something that can
move the electrons around easily.
Electrolytes are usually liquids or gels, but isn't keeping a liquid in your laptop
dangerous?
What if we could just get rid of it altogether?
Well that’s the challenge.
Because big batteries, like those in your car, have a liquid electrolyte they require
a rigid plastic or metal casing to keep the battery connections stable.
But most batteries you use are Lithium-ion, where the cathode and anode are connected
using an electrolyte made of an organic gel, called a polymer.
Polymer electrolytes can use light-weight plastic casings, and can be made in different
sizes which is great for new electric cars and portable devices.
But there's a problem…
Their tendency to explode.
Electrons flow from the anode to the cathode through your device, and that's how you're
probably watching this right now.
But Lithium is highly reactive, and if the battery casing is punctured the reaction of
lithium with the moisture in the air can cause the gel electrolyte to catch fire…
OR as my chem teacher used to say, an "energetic reaction.”
Also, as an added suck, lithium-Ion batteries also don't work well in the cold, and because
the gel is organic the more times they're used, the less charge the batteries can move.
But the future is coming!!
The lithium works great, and the electrons are doing their job, but the gel is the problem.
So, scientists are working on a way to get that gel OUTTA THERE.
Every battery since Alessandro Volta's original voltaic cell of copper, zinc and a salt bridge
-- has used liquid or gel components.
But what if we could make an electrolyte that was just a solid piece?
Research published in Nature Materials might have done just that!
IT'S LIKE A SCIENCE MIRACLE!
Building on another paper from 2011, researchers created a solid electrolyte that can move
the electrons just like the gel, but without the mess of explosions, sensitivity to cold,
and, you know… gel.
They did this using a 3D tetrahedral framework of Lithium, Germanium, Phosphorous, and Sulfur.
The framework lets electrons move through it, hopping from one molecule to the next
for hundreds of thousands of charge cycles!
Because it's solid, you could "drive a nail through the battery," and it won't explode
-- nice.
And surprisingly, it functioned at negative 20 fahrenheit (-29C)!
One of the researchers commented that this design could be "almost a perfect battery,
solving most of the remaining issues [that batteries have]*."
It's super experimental.
So far, the design is very limited and can only produce 5 volts… the iPhone 5 battery
put out 3.8 volts.
Obviously, more research is needed.
And other papers are coming out with alternative solid electrolytes, but this one is promising.
On top of ALL that, scientists figure, because they don't have to accommodate a gel, they
can add MORE individual cells of power, upping battery density by 20 to 30 percent, all while
bringing down overall cost.
Meaning these potential solid-state batteries will be safer, cheaper and will last longer.
Sounds hot.
Lithium-Ion batteries are rechargeable because they've been designed that way, but why aren't
all batteries rechargeable?
I've got the answer for you RIGHT HERE!
Do you hate batteries?
Want a solid state one for your phone?
Tell the world!