Eight-Fold Improvement in Lithium Battery Life Proposed

Researchers at a South Korean university have developed a lithium battery which is 90% more energy efficient than existing products. The team led by Cho Jae-phil, an applied chemistry professor at Hanyang University, claimed that the battery life of laptop computers and cellular phones can be extended eight times longer than conventional batteries with the new technology.

The team replaced graphite as the main material of the negative electrode with a novel three dimensional porous silicon particles made of silica and hydrogen fluoride.

The idea of using silicon has been investigated in the past, but the material tends to expand when in contact with lithium and hence was unstable in a closed battery container. In their findings, published in the latest online issue of the Angewante Chemie journal, the team said that they were able to overcome that critical shortcoming of silicon with porous particles.

Commercial production could begin in four to five years - and patents have been applied for.

Resource - cellular-news