“We’re now looking for higher and higher energy density batteries, and graphite [anodes] can’t do that anymore,” said Yi Cui, a professor of material science and engineering and leader of the research team.
A team of Stanford University researchers, including former Energy Secretary Steven Chu, believes it has achieved the “holy grail” of lithium battery design: an anode of pure lithium that could boost the range of an electric car to 300 miles.
Lithium-ion batteries are one of the most common types of rechargeable batteries on the market today. But most of the batteries—found in technologies like smartphones and electric cars—use an anode made of graphite or silicon.
Here’s the paper, Interconnected Hollow Carbon Nanospheres for Stable Lithium Metal Anodes, in Nature.
The Stanford researchers are using nanospheres, a protective layer of tiny carbon domes that protect the anode. Read research about nanospheres in the ECS Digital Library.