Bet you didn’t actually fear the potential fire hazard your electronic device posed until safer battery technology came up as an option. That’s right, researchers from Cornell University claim to have developed a new lithium battery component which is not as likely to catch fire as standard lithium-ion power houses found in everything from tablets to handsets to electric cars to planes.
Lynden Archer, Geoffrey Coates and their colleagues at Cornell University say that this new battery can not only reduce the risk of fire hazards, but also perform just as effectively as counterparts and last for longer. The danger shadowing the lithium-ion batteries of today originates from the integrated flammable small-molecule electrolytes which permit ions to flow between the electrodes within the unit.
The solution was initially thought to lie within solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) membranes which are found in high specific energy rechargeable Li-metal polymer (LMP) power houses. But SPEs are not really great at transporting ions, especially at room temperatures. This also encourages the growth of lithium dendrites, ultimately causing short circuits and making SPEs nonviable for commercial deployment.
Submitted to the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the Cornell University paper reports the development of a cross-linked polyethylene/poly (ethylene oxide) SPE with high ionic conductivity as well as strong resistance to the development of dendrites. The last mentioned has something to do with shear moduli with the same order of magnitude as lithium and this can be helpful in not only producing safer battery units, but longer lasting ones too.
We don’t know how much time it will take for this new battery technology to make gadgets safer to reach markets, though we hope it will be made feasible in the near future.