Freezing lithium batteries could make them more efficient
Week in Brief (24–28 April)
Credit: Yuan Yang/Columbia Engineering.
Schematic of vertically aligned and connected ceramic channels for enhancing ionic conduction
A new method, which controls the structure of the solid electrolyte in lithium batteries using ice-templating, could afford lithium batteries a longer life, higher safety and even make them bendable.
Yuan Yang, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Columbia Engineering, USA, developed the method. Haowei Zhai, lead author of the paper, published in Nano Letters, commented ‘We thought that if we combined the vertically aligned structure of the ceramic electrolyte with [a] polymer electrolyte, we would be able to provide a fast highway for lithium ions and thus enhance the conductivity [...] We believe this is the first time anyone has used the ice-templating method to make flexible solid electrolyte, which is nonflammable and nontoxic, in lithium batteries.’
Yang believes that all solid-state lithium batteries could solve the safety issues surrounding lithium batteries in electronic devices, as well as increasing the battery’s energy density for storage and transporting.
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