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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday May 24 2017, @02:43AM   Printer-friendly
from the good-enough dept.

Researchers at the University of Texas, including the 94-year-old John Goodenough, claim to have achieved up to five times better energy density in a solid lithium glass battery. The technology supposedly charges much faster than other batteries. One expert says that the battery's proposed mechanism violates the first law of thermodynamics:

At the center of this debate is a towering figure in the world of science — John Goodenough, who teaches material science at the university.

In 1980, his work led to the invention of the lithium-ion battery — now crucial to powering everything from cellphones and laptops to electric cars. For a lot of people, that would probably be enough. But at 94 years old, he's still at it. [...] Now, Goodenough and his team say they've created a new battery that may store up to five times more power than current ones. And, even better, such a battery would charge and recharge in a matter of minutes — all without exploding.

[...] Goodenough's team is using a solid — a lithium glass. In their paper [DOI: 10.1039/C6EE02888H] [DX], they say this glass along with a new design allows their battery to perform so much better. But many others are skeptical. "If you could accomplish what this paper claims, it would rewrite the way we think about chemistry," says Dan Steingart, a professor of mechanical engineering at Princeton. He says batteries are sealed, so it's hard to know what's really going on. And he doubts the team's interpretation of what's happening here. In fact, he says, the chemical ingredients shouldn't be storing any power, what he calls "anomalous capacity."

NOVA, which aired Search for the Super Battery in February, covered John Goodenough in March.

Daimler is investing half a billion euros in a lithium-ion battery factory:

Daimler didn't give any projections for its factory's potential capacity, but it did say that its investment would quadruple the size of an existing battery factory on the site, which is run by Accumotive, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler. The German automaker is also pledging another €500 million to expand battery production worldwide. And if all goes well at the Kamenz site, Daimler says it will "go into operation in mid-2018."


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday May 24 2017, @05:12AM (4 children)

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Wednesday May 24 2017, @05:12AM (#514681) Journal

    If you're over 80, bad enough that you're probably suffering from a variety of age related problems. Can't walk as fast, not as strong, can't drive as well, etc. But everyone constantly wondering if this time you've finally lost your mind and gone senile has to be a real bummer. You may even have children eager to to shove your old butt into the nearest nursing home and hurry you into the grave so they can collect that big inheritance you're leaving them.

    The suggestion that this new lithium battery is too good to be true, nothing wrong with that. Maybe someone made a big mistake somewhere. That does happen. But to assume that there probably is a mistake because the researcher is very old, is just a tad unfair.

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday May 24 2017, @05:49AM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday May 24 2017, @05:49AM (#514688) Journal

    I don't see any suggestion of him being mocked for his old age in the summary and the linked paper has 3 co-authors who are probably a lot younger and could prevent any devastating age-related mistakes.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @06:20AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @06:20AM (#514692)

    It's not like you cannot find an overworked intern at your service 24h to check out if whatever you do is working as expected...

  • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @08:50AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @08:50AM (#514730)

    If you're over 80, bad enough that you're probably suffering from a variety of age related problems. [...] The suggestion that this new lithium battery is too good to be true, nothing wrong with that.

    Being an ageist must suck? Do you know why you're not working to improve on battery technology? It's because you are not Goodenough!

  • (Score: 1) by pTamok on Wednesday May 24 2017, @10:07AM

    by pTamok (3042) on Wednesday May 24 2017, @10:07AM (#514737)

    Possibly Arthur C. Clarkes 'First Law' applies:

    When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.