Researchers have developed a lithium-ion battery that uses copper and copper nanowires to create a larger internal structure. It can thus recharge to 60% in 6 minutes, without affecting its energy storage.
According to a new report from TechXplore, a team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in China managed to increase the charging speed of a lithium-ion battery at a rate of 5.6 minutes from a 60% charge.
The most important properties of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, such as energy density and charge time, are determined by the electrochemical and kinetic properties of their materials, as well as by their underlying microstructure. It is on the latter that researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei and their colleagues have focused to develop the battery of the future.
Also read: This revolutionary material makes it possible to recharge the battery of a car 10x faster!
The battery of the future uses nanowires and a copper coating
Chinese researchers have made this new battery capable of supporting ultra-fast charging by adding a copper coating and nanowires to the battery anode. Current batteries use bonding agents to create a solid anode (often graphite) that tends to have a random particle distribution, resulting in slower charge times.
Thanks to a more structured anode, the battery developed in China is able to recharge to 60% in just 5.6 minutes and to 80% in just 11.4 minutes. This battery could power electric automobiles in the future, allowing drivers to travel faster, since cooldowns will be drastically reduced.
However, as is often the case with new technology, it will need to be affordable enough to allow automakers to use it in their cars. As a reminder, other researchers have gone even further by using quantum physics to recharge all cells in a battery at onceallowing a full recharge in just 9 seconds.
Source: TechXplore