This could be the battery of the future for your smartphone ~ DepoTech

One of the biggest complaints about smartphones always involves the battery and the autonomy it delivers. It is therefore logical that there are teams of researchers who are trying to make better our batteries. UC Berkeley working on a battery called "supercapacitor" (I love the name), and SolidEnergy considering a longer battery Ara project, the modular smartphone from Google.

Stanford scientists have just developed an aluminum battery that could allow your smartphone to recharge fully in less than a minute. It is also durable, relatively inexpensive, and safer than the batteries we use today. "We developed a rechargeable battery aluminum that can replace existing batteries such as alkaline batteries, which are bad for the environment, and lithium-ion batteries, which sometimes ignite," said a teacher chemistry, Hongjie Dai, in a report just published by the University of Stanford.

The new aluminum-ion battery which researchers brainstormed for a while, since it can be acquired cheaply, and is not prone to catch fire. In addition, it is able to store a lot of power, which could be a boon for small devices. The problem was to find a good material for the cathode, which allows it to produce enough voltage after repeated cycles.

"People have tried different materials for the cathode," said Dai. "We accidentally discovered that a simple solution is to use graphite, which is essentially made of carbon. In our study, we identified some graphite materials that give us very good performance, "he said.

By combining the aluminum anode and the graphite cathode with an ionic liquid electrolyte in a bag coated with flexible polymer, the researchers found a solution which seems very safe. "In our study, we have videos showing you can drill the pocket of the battery, and that it will continue to operate without taking fire," said Dai. "Furthermore lithium may switch off unpredictably - in the air, the car, or in your pocket," he continues.

Of course, the advantage is not only safety, since the speed is also an important factor. Instead of an hour, the new aluminum-ion battery can be recharged in minutes. The Stanford team reported a charging time as low a minute.

Finally, it is also durable. The prototype was able to hold for 750 cycles without loss of capacity. For a standard lithium-ion battery, it is about 1 000 cycles.

"Another characteristic of the battery is flexibility," said Gong. "You can bend and fold. It therefore has the potential for use in flexible devices. Aluminum is also cheaper than lithium metal. "

While all this is very attractive, it should be noted that this battery is still in a prototype phase. The aluminum-ion battery generates electric charge 2 V, 3.6 V compared to your traditional lithium-ion battery. Dai said that this problem can be overcome by improving the cathode material. In other words, there is still some work to the research team.

Although it has a major flaw, the Stanford team is definitely on the right track. "Otherwise, our battery has everything a battery you can dream: cheap electrodes, good security, a high-speed load, flexibility and excellent durability. I see this as a new battery in its early days. It's quite exciting, "he says.