 Smaller, lighter and can charge in seconds... A new manufacturing process for existing lithium batteries shows great promise as a candidate as a power source for electric vehicles. Led by Gerbrand Ceder, the Richard P. Simmons Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT, researchers have discovered that lithium batteries could be produced which would be rechargeable in seconds, rather than minutes. Read more to find out how it's done...
Years earlier, computer models calculating the rate of charging and releasing power to and from lithium batteries indicated that this process could be achieved far quicker than with existing batteries. The reason for the slow-down: lithium ions only move quickly into the battery material when they do so through tunnels accessed from the surface of the battery. It was found that if lithium ions were not directly above the tunnel they could not move to the entrance. MIT's Ceder, working with graduate student Byoungwoo Kang, has devised a way of allowing ions to move over the tunnel entrances and into the battery material. Entering and exiting through the tunnels allows this battery to charge and discharge extremely quickly. Other researcher have pointed out that while a quick charge / discharge battery is good for things like quick acceleration of a car, it will most likely be used in conjunction with other battery technologies which dissipate energy slowly, allowing sustained speed.
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