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Tiny silicon particles could power lithium ion batteries with 10 times more capacity
University of Alberta chemists have taken a critical step toward creating a new generation of silicon-based lithium ion batteries with 10 times the charge capacity of current cells.
“We wanted to test how different sizes of silicon nanoparticles could affect fracturing inside these batteries,” said Jillian Buriak, a U of A chemist and Canada Research Chair in Nanomaterials for Energy.
Silicon shows promise for building much higher-capacity batteries because it’s abundant and can absorb much more lithium than the graphite used in current lithium ion batteries. The problem is that silicon is prone to fracturing and breaking after numerous charge-and-discharge cycles, because it expands and contracts as it absorbs and releases lithium ions.
The researchers examined silicon nanoparticles of four different sizes, evenly dispersed within highly conductive graphene aerogels, made of carbon with nanoscopic pores, to compensate for silicon’s low conductivity. They found that the smallest particles—just three billionths of a metre in diameter—showed the best long-term stability after many charging and discharging cycles.
[...] “As the particles get smaller, we found they are better able to manage the strain that occurs as the silicon ‘breathes’ upon alloying and dealloying with lithium, upon cycling,” explained Buriak.
[...] The study, “Size and Surface Effects of Silicon Nanocrystals in Graphene Aerogel Composite Anodes for Lithium Ion Batteries,” was published in Chemistry of Materials.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by coolgopher on Monday January 21 2019, @10:39AM (10 children)
Don't you *&$%&#s dare make the battery thinner/smaller just because you've got better energy density!
My phone is already too damn thin and doesn't last more than a day on a full charge. Back in myyy day I could go a week without charging. I'd like that experience again.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ewk on Monday January 21 2019, @12:04PM (8 children)
Too late... They already thought of it. :-)
From the article:
“Imagine a car having the same size battery as a Tesla that could travel 10 times farther or you charge 10 times less frequently, or the battery is 10 times lighter.”
Anyway, for an electric car I'd gladly meet hem halfway: 5 times farther travel AND 5 times lighter.
A one-stretch reach of 1000-1500 KM (at an appr. 100 km/h average speed) would be about my tipping point in considering one.
I don't always react, but when I do, I do it on SoylentNews
(Score: 2, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Monday January 21 2019, @12:07PM (2 children)
The same size but smaller. The Metric System is very strange.....
(Score: 2) by ewk on Monday January 21 2019, @12:16PM (1 child)
That's just the Canadian Metric System at work :-)
The real Metric System works fine... Imagine how much greater America could have been using that... :-D
I don't always react, but when I do, I do it on SoylentNews
(Score: 2, Insightful) by realDonaldTrump on Monday January 21 2019, @01:34PM
You go to the Coke machine, you put in your Quarters. But, no Coke. Because you put one in that doesn't say Quarter. It says 25 cents -- it's actually less. Big ugly Moose giving you the stink eye. Same size, less money -- so sneaky -- Canada!
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 21 2019, @12:20PM (4 children)
5 times farther and "5 times lighter" needs energy density improvement factor of 25, not 10.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by ewk on Monday January 21 2019, @12:44PM
Good to realize someone pays attention :-)
But, yeah, 0.5 times the weight and 5 times farther would work fine too. :-D
I don't always react, but when I do, I do it on SoylentNews
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 21 2019, @01:10PM (1 child)
Wait for today's press release.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday January 21 2019, @06:17PM
Why wait? Why not release the press now? Especially if someone is caught in that press. Is this press on some sort of time lock?
The people who rely on government handouts and refuse to work should be kicked out of congress.
(Score: 4, Informative) by deimtee on Tuesday January 22 2019, @03:00AM
Actually, it requires antigravity, as five times lighter means it weighs -4 times the original. You could use it to power your flying car.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 1) by realDonaldTrump on Monday January 21 2019, @12:04PM
We used to have a choice. The regular phone with the wires. The car phone. When you got out of the car, that one stayed there. Or, the portable phone. You carry it around, it's a briefcase. And it did phone calls. You had papers, too bad, better hire a guy to carry your 2nd. briefcase. If your phone had a little battery, your name was Dick Tracy. Until Cell Phone happened and it was No Phone Left Behind -- incredibly freeing! youtu.be0WUF3yjgGf4 [youtu.be0wuf3yjggf4]