ECS treasurer E.J. Taylor (Founder & CTO of Faraday Technology), recently forwarded us a story from The Economist featuring ECS members and their contributions to research and development on the ever-improving lithium-ion battery.
Since the battery’s commercialization by Sony in the early 1990s, the lithium-ion battery has improved to produce better laptops, smartphones, and even power electric cars.
Vincent Battaglia, ECS member and head of the Electrochemical Technologies Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, states that the lithium-ion battery “is almost an ideal battery.” With its light weight and recharging capabilities, the battery has received much attention from researchers globally.
With all of its potential, there are still hurdles to overcome in order to make the lithium-ion battery ideal for all of its potential applications. There are still issues with its energy density, safety, and relatively high price.
Battaglia is looking to combat some of these issues by working on combinations of metals that can be added to the battery’s electrode, known as transition metals. This research could produce the next generation of lithium-ion batteries with high energy density. See more of Battaglia’s research here.
Another ECS member looking to improve the battery is Yi Cui of Stanford University. Here, Cui is working on developing thin films to enclose the battery’s positive electrodes. This research has the potential to yield impressive improvements in the battery’s safety and energy density.
At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ECS member Chengdu Liang and his team are focusing their attention on developing a lithium-sulfur battery, which could improve the battery’s stability. Read Liang’s research on lithium-sulfur batteries.
With the pending improvements to the lithium-ion battery, researchers at looking at its potential to change the energy infrastructure and help move countries toward greener technology. ECS’s Michael Aziz of Harvard University has taken a particular interest in this, studying and researching flow batteries. He and his team having been working on safe, inexpensive flow batteries that could easily fit in a home and assist in promoting a more renewable energy.
With the current lithium-ion battery research by ECS members and other scientists from around the world, the battery’s potential seems to have huge future potential.
[Source: The Economist]Join these and thousands of other scientists by joining ECS today!
And make sure to attend the ECS Conference on Electrochemical Energy Conversion & Storage with SOFC-XIV this July! Early-bird registration deadline is June 15th. Register today!
