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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."
(Score: 5, Informative) by Zinho on Wednesday May 24 2017, @05:41PM (3 children)
Why you gotta hate on Mechanical Engineers? We take chemistry classes too; and unlike physicists [xkcd.com] we'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you actually know what you're doing and talking about. For what it's worth, electroplating of metals is a significant portion of the study of corrosion, which is a specialty many mechanical engineers are deeply involved in. Professor Steingart's profile [princeton.edu] says he specializes in material science, so there's a chance he knows what he's on about.
I read through the professor's first law analysis, [medium.com] and I think he's being pretty fair about it. It seems there's a lively conversation going on between Goodenough and Steingart, with several updates correcting the analysis. Here's the short version:
* comparing the claimed chemistry before and after discharge, there's not enough change in energy to explain the work being done
* the proposed mechanism for the energy difference (change in Fermi potential) explains 1/100th of the work being done
* The results of the test speak for themselves; SOMETHING is going on, just probably not what the paper claims.
Professor Steingart is trying to help find the real mechanism involved, because if we understand it better then we can make an even better battery. It seems to me that everyone is on the same side here, and this is Science working the way it should.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 1) by pTamok on Wednesday May 24 2017, @06:29PM (1 child)
Moderated you up, especially for the link to Steingart's analysis. You must admit, though, at first sight, mechanical engineering doesn't immediately appear relevant to electrochemistry: but I take your point about corrosion etc.
The reproducibility with different redox centres (S, MnO2, Fe(CN)4-) and significant numbers of charge/discharge cycles do indicate something is going on. Maybe it is oxygen contamination, but even if it were, it looks highly interesting.
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Wednesday May 24 2017, @08:58PM
Thanks for the mod! And, yeah, you'll notice I was VERY careful not to make it sound like a sure thing that the Prof was an appropriate expert; having an ME degree very much makes you a generalist. Smart MEs keep their mouths shut when the topic goes outside their specialty; YMMV
:P
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 25 2017, @02:03PM
Why ask a Mechanical Engineer? Because MEs rule!!!!!
Check out the wikipedia page for Goodenough:
"John B. Goodenough". Faculty. The University of Texas at Austin Mechanical Engineering Department. May 3, 2005. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-23.