New Aluminium - ion Battery

[Overlandman]

From ABC News
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-08/a ... ts/6376406

US scientists say they have invented a cheap, long-lasting and flexible battery made of aluminium for use in smartphones that can be charged in as little as one minute.

The researchers, who detailed their discovery in the journal Nature, said the new aluminium-ion battery had the potential to replace lithium-ion batteries, used in millions of laptops and mobile phones.

Besides recharging much faster, the new aluminium battery is safer than existing lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames, they added.

Researchers have long tried but failed to develop a battery made of aluminium, a lightweight and relatively inexpensive metal that has high charging capacity.

A team lead by chemistry professor Hongjie Dai, at Stanford University in California, made a breakthrough by accidentally discovering that graphite made a good partner to aluminium, Stanford said in a statement.

In a prototype, aluminium was used to make the negatively-charged anode while graphite provided material for the positively charged cathode.

A prototype aluminium battery recharged in one minute, the scientists said.

"Lithium-ion batteries can be a fire hazard," said Professor Dai. "Our new battery won't catch fire, even if you drill through it."

The new battery is also very durable and flexible, the scientists said. While lithium-ion batteries last about 1,000 cycles, the new aluminium battery was able to continue after more than 7,500 cycles without loss of capacity. It also can be bent or folded.

Larger aluminium batteries could also be used to store renewable energy on the electrical grid, Professor Dai said.

[Zone-5]

Thanks for the heads up, I'll look out for new products using this one...

[Tortoise]

Wow! Sounds brilliant. I wonder how long it takes to get to market stage. And for cameras hopefully?!

[icefest]

It's not really that useful for walking as it has a lower energy density than the current batteries. As a walker a high specific energy is less useful.

[north-north-west]

It's not really that useful for walking as it has a lower energy density than the current batteries. As a walker a high specific energy is less useful.

I know the words, but the order in which they are used means <0 to me.

[icefest]

These batteries are like a small heavy fuel tank that can be emptied and filled up quickly. But they are heavy for the total fuel they contain
We want a fuel tank that is light and don't really care if it cannot be emptied fast.

[north-north-west]

Ta, that makes sense.

[Nuts]

'aluminium-ion batteries: 1060 Wh/kg in comparison to lithium-ion's 406 Wh/kg limit'

[icefest]

'aluminium-ion batteries: 1060 Wh/kg in comparison to lithium-ion's 406 Wh/kg limit'

From the journal article: "The cell exhibits well-defined discharge voltage plateaus near 2 volts, a specific capacity of about 70 mA h g–1"

You were quoting the theoretical maximum and that's useless for us walkers.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v5 ... 14340.html

[madmacca]

[quote="Overlandman"... battery made of aluminium for use in smartphones that can be charged in as little as one minute.[/quote]

I call BS on the charge time. Most phone batteries are around 2000 mAh @ 3.7 V (+/- 500 mAh). Tablet batteries are several times larger again.

Even assuming 100% charging efficiency, with the 5V 2A USB standard for charging mobile devices (many phones charge at 1A), it's still going to take 45 minutes to charge a 2000 mAh battery.

[icefest]

That cell charged that fast.

There's a good chance that USB c well be in use by then and that charges with up to 100w.

[Gadgetgeek]

Charge time is a factor of heat generation, you can only dump energy in so fast. The aluminum cells sound like they are more tolerant of that, so with the right charger, you would be able to charge faster than the equivalent size Li battery, and more simply instead of the current tech which has to regulate the power more closely. The 2v per cell is a challenge, but in applications that are stacked cells anyway it won't be that big of a deal. And the cost/longevity would make them a good option over lead-acid deep cycle batteries for storage, in combination with say solar or wind systems. We may see them in consumer electronics if the power demands drop over time, but I think lithium will hold that market for quite a while.