MIT develops new material to make batteries more powerful and charge faster
(Image credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
According to foreign media reports, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a new material that is said to help batteries charge faster.
Improving the efficiency of batteries contributes to a greener, greener future. However, current advanced battery technology has several drawbacks, such as long charging times. Another challenge, according to the MIT researchers, is combining high charge capacity with "long cycle life of the capacitors" during battery design.
As an electrochemical device widely used at present, lithium-ion batteries have a high charging capacity, but have a shortcoming in terms of charging time. Researchers are experimenting with designs that incorporate a host of low-cost organic materials as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries. It was found that the conductivity of the battery decreased. As with other modular design approaches, combining lithium-ion batteries and capacitors in specific devices is too complex and expensive. Because of these issues, MIT researcher Tianyang Chen said, "it is imperative to develop electrode materials that combine the high charge capacity of lithium-ion batteries with the fast charge and long cycle life of capacitors."
The team came up with a combination of organic materials that could be used in battery cathodes (the electrodes that store lithium as the battery discharges). Previous attempts to use organic materials have been unsuccessful because they would dissolve in the battery's electrolyte. "Strategies such as polymerization and synthesizing organic molecules with insoluble dopant agents can limit electrode dissolution," Chen said. "However, designing organic materials that are inherently insoluble but can still rapidly transport and store charge is challenging."
However, the material created in the MIT lab was able to remain stable. "Researchers report bis-tetraamino-p-benzoquinone and its polymer analog poly(bis-tetraamino-p-benzoquinone) as organic materials with pseudocapacitive properties" for electrical energy storage devices "in exhibit high charge storage capacity at high charge-discharge rates."
The organic material is capable of storing 310 mAh of charge, roughly double the capacity of current lithium-ion battery cathodes. Using these materials, the charging time of the battery can be shortened to 33 seconds.
Using abundant magnesium or sodium ions, rather than lithium, which is in limited supply, could yield optimized results at a lower cost, the researchers say.
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