In recent years, we have often heard that just about - and humanity will receive batteries that will be able to power our gadgets for weeks or even months, while being very compact and fast-charging. But things are still there. Why more efficient batteries have not yet appeared and what developments exist in the world, read under the cut.
Today, a number of startups are close to creating safe compact batteries with energy storage costs of about $ 100 per kWh. This would solve the problem of 24/7 power supply and in many cases switch to renewable energy sources, and at the same time reduce the weight and cost of electric vehicles.
But all of these developments are extremely slowly approaching commercial levels, which does not allow accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources. Even Elon Musk, who loves bold promises, was forced to admit that his automotive division is gradually improving lithium-ion batteries, rather than creating disruptive technologies.
Many developers believe that future batteries will have a very different shape, structure and chemical composition compared to lithium-ion, which in the last decade has displaced other technologies from many markets.
The founder of SolidEnergy Systems, Qichao Hu, who has been developing a lithium-metal battery for ten years (the anode is metal, not graphite, as in traditional lithium-ion), argues that the main problem in creating new energy storage technologies is that with the improvement of one parameter, the others worsen. In addition, there are so many developments today, the authors of which loudly claim their superiority, that it is very difficult for startups to convince potential investors and raise enough funds to continue research.
According to a report by Lux Research, over the past 8-9 years, the company has invested about $ 4 billion in energy storage research, of which start-ups creating "next generation technologies" received an average of $ 40 million. At the same time, Tesla has invested about $ 5 billion in the Gigafactory, which produces lithium-ion batteries. This gap is very difficult to bridge.
Gerd Ceder, a professor of materials science at the University of California, Berkeley, says it costs about $ 500 million to build a small production line and solve all production problems to get the battery going. Automakers can test new battery technologies for years before deciding whether or not to acquire the startups that created them. Even if a new technology enters the market, there is a dangerous period of scaling up and finding customers to be overcome. For example, Leyden Energy and A123 Systems.
Lithium Air Breathable Batteries
Lithium-air batteries use oxygen as an oxidizing agent. Potentially, they can be several times cheaper and lighter than lithium-ion batteries, and their capacity can be much larger with comparable dimensions. The main problems of the technology: significant energy loss due to heat dissipation during charging (up to 30%) and relatively rapid degradation of the capacity. But there is hope that these problems will be resolved within 5-10 years. For example, last year a new type of lithium-air technology was introduced - a battery with a nanolytic cathode.
Bioo charger
This device is in the form of a special plant pot that uses the energy of photosynthesis to charge mobile gadgets. Moreover, it is already available for sale. The device can provide two to three charging sessions per day with a voltage of 3.5 V and an amperage of 0.5 A. The organic materials in the pot interact with water and the products of the photosynthesis reaction, as a result, enough energy is obtained to charge smartphones and tablets.
Imagine whole groves in which each tree is planted above such a device, only larger and more powerful. This will supply “free” energy to surrounding homes and will be a compelling reason to protect forests from deforestation.
Batteries with gold nanowires
The University of California at Irvine has developed nanowire batteries that can withstand more than 200,000 charge cycles over three months without any signs of capacity degradation. This will dramatically increase the life cycle of power systems in mission-critical systems and consumer electronics.
Nanospecialists thousands of times thinner than a human hair promise a bright future. In their development, scientists used gold wires in a sheath of manganese dioxide, which are placed in a gel-like electrolyte. This prevents the nanowires from breaking down with every charge cycle.
Magnesium batteries
Toyota is working on using magnesium in batteries. This will allow the creation of small, tightly packed modules that do not need protective enclosures. In the long term, such batteries can be cheaper and more compact than lithium-ion batteries. True, this will not happen soon. If it happens.
Solid state batteries
Conventional lithium-ion batteries use a liquid, flammable electrolyte as a medium for transporting charged particles between electrodes, gradually degrading the battery.
Solid-state lithium-ion batteries, which are considered one of the most promising today, are devoid of this drawback. In particular, Toyota developers have published a scientific paper in which they described their experiments with sulfide superionic conductors. If they succeed, then batteries will be created at the level of supercapacitors - they will be fully charged or discharged in just seven minutes. Ideal for electric vehicles. And thanks to the solid-state structure, such batteries will be much more stable and safer than modern lithium-ion batteries. Their operating temperature range will also expand - from –30 to +100 degrees Celsius.
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have partnered with Samsung to develop solid-state batteries that outperform today's lithium-ion batteries. They are safer, their energy consumption is 20-30% higher, and besides, they can withstand hundreds of thousands of recharge cycles.
Fuel cells
Improving fuel cells could result in smartphones being recharged once a week and drones flying for more than an hour. Scientists from Pohang University of Science and Technology (South Korea) have created a cell in which porous stainless steel elements with a thin-film electrolyte and electrodes with minimal heat capacity are combined. The design has proven to be more reliable and last longer than lithium-ion batteries. It is possible that the development will be implemented in commercial products, primarily in Samsung smartphones.
Graphene car batteries
Many experts believe that the future belongs to graphene batteries. Graphenano has developed the Grabat battery, which can provide an electric vehicle's range of up to 800 km. The developers claim that the battery can be charged in just a few minutes - the charge / discharge rate is 33 times faster than that of lithium-ion batteries. Discharging quickly is especially important to ensure high acceleration dynamics for electric vehicles.
The capacity of the 2.3-volt Grabat is enormous: about 1000 Wh / kg. For comparison, the best examples of lithium-ion batteries have a level of 180 Wh / kg.
Laser-made micro-supercapacitors
Scientists at Rice University have made progress in the development of micro-supercapacitors. One of the main disadvantages of the technology is the high cost of manufacturing, but the use of a laser can lead to a significant reduction in cost. Electrodes for capacitors are laser cut from a plastic sheet, which greatly reduces the labor intensity of production. These batteries can charge 50 times faster than lithium-ion batteries, and discharge slower than the supercapacitors used today. In addition, they are reliable, during the experiments they continued to work even after 10 thousand bendings.
Sodium ion batteries
A group of French researchers and companies RS2E has developed sodium-ion laptop batteries that use regular salt. The principle of operation and the manufacturing process are kept secret. The capacity of a 6.5-centimeter battery is 90 Wh / kg, which is comparable to the mass lithium-ion batteries, but it can withstand no more than 2 thousand charging cycles.
Foam batteries
Another trend in the development of energy storage technologies is the creation of three-dimensional structures. In particular, Prieto has created a battery based on a foam metal (copper) substrate. There is no flammable electrolyte, such a battery has a long resource, it charges faster, its density is five times higher, and it is also cheaper and smaller than modern batteries. Prieto hopes to first introduce its development into wearable electronics, but argues that the technology can be spread more widely: used in smartphones and even in cars.
High-capacity fast-charging "nanowell"
Another development of the Massachusetts Institute of technology is nanoparticles for batteries: a hollow shell made of titanium dioxide, inside which (like the yolk in an egg) is a filler made of aluminum powder, sulfuric acid and titanium oxysulfate. The size of the filler may vary regardless of the shell. The use of such particles allowed to increase the capacity of modern batteries three times, and the duration of a full charge was reduced to six minutes. Also decreased the rate of degradation of the battery. The icing on the cake — the low cost production and easy scalability.
Ultra-fast charging aluminum-ion battery
Stanford has developed an aluminum-ion battery that is fully charged in about one minute. However, the battery itself has some flexibility. The main problem is that the specific capacity is about half that of lithium-ion batteries. Although, given the charging speed, this is not so critical.
Alfa battery — two weeks on the water
If Fuji Pigment manages to bring to mind its aluminum-air battery Alfa battery, then we are waiting for the appearance of energy carriers, the capacity of which is 40 times larger than the capacity of lithium-ion. Moreover, the battery is recharged by adding water, either plain or salted. According to the developers, Alfa can work for up to two weeks on a single charge. Perhaps first such batteries will appear on electric vehicles. Imagine a gas station where you stop for water.
Batteries that can be folded like paper
The company Jenax has created a flexible battery J. Flex, similar to thick paper. It can even be folded. In addition, it is not afraid of water and therefore very convenient for use in clothing. Or imagine a wrist watch with a battery in the form of a strap. This technology will allow you to reduce the size of the gadgets themselves, and increase the wearable amount of energy. Another scenario is the creation of flexible folding smartphones and tablets. Need a bigger screen? Just unfold the gadget folded in half.
According to the developers, the test sample can withstand 200 thousand folds without loss of capacity.
Elastic batteries
Many companies are working on creating flexible energy carriers. A team of scientists from the University of Arizona went further and used a special mechanical design to create a battery in the form of an elastic band. It is possible that the idea will be developed and will allow you to embed batteries in clothing.
Urinary battery
In 2013, the bill gates Foundation invested in continuing research at Bristol Robotic Laboratory to create urine-powered batteries. The whole CIMES is in the use of "microbial fuel cells": they contain microorganisms that break down urine and generate electricity. Who knows, maybe soon going to the toilet will not only be a need, but also literally a useful activity.
Ryden-fast-charging carbon batteries
In 2014, Power Japan Plus announced plans to produce batteries based on carbon materials. They could be produced on the same equipment as lithium-ion ones. Carbon batteries should last longer and charge up to 20 times faster than lithium-ion batteries. A resource of 3 thousand charging cycles was claimed.
Organic battery, almost for nothing
Harvard developed organic battery technology that would cost $ 27 per kWh to produce. This is 96 % cheaper than metal-based batteries (about $ 700 per kWh). The invention uses quinone molecules that are almost identical to those found in rhubarb. Organic batteries are as efficient as traditional ones and can easily scale to huge sizes.
Just add some sand
This technology is an upgrade of lithium-ion batteries. At the University of California, riverside, instead of graphite anodes, they used a burnt mixture of purified and crushed sand (read quartz) with salt and magnesium. It is possible to increase the performance of conventional lithium-ion batteries and about three times to increase their service life.
Fast-charging and long-lived
Nanyang technological University (Singapore) has developed its own modification of the lithium-ion battery, which charges 70% in two minutes and lasts 10 times longer than conventional lithium-ion batteries. In it, the anode is not made of graphite, but of a gel — like substance based on titanium dioxide-a cheap and widely distributed raw material.
Batteries with nanopores
At the University of Maryland in College Park, they created a nanoporous structure, each cell of which works like a tiny battery. This array takes 12 minutes to charge, has three times the capacity of lithium-ion batteries of the same size, and can withstand about 1 thousand charging cycles.
Generating electricity:
Skin energy
Here we are talking not so much about batteries, but about the method of obtaining energy. Theoretically, using the energy of friction of a wearable device (watch, fitness tracker) on the skin, you can generate electricity. If the technology can be sufficiently improved, then in the future in some gadgets, batteries will work simply because you wear them on your body. The prototype of such a nanogenerator is a 50-nanometer-thick gold film applied to a silicone substrate containing thousands of tiny legs that increase the friction of the substrate against the skin. The result is a triboelectric effect.
uBeam-air charging
uBeam is a curious concept of transferring energy to a mobile device using ultrasound. The charger emits ultrasonic waves that are picked up by the receiver on the gadget and converted into electricity. Apparently, the invention is based on the piezoelectric effect: the receiver resonates under the influence of ultrasound, and its vibrations generate energy.
Scientists from Queen Mary University of London went a similar way. They created a prototype smartphone that charges simply due to external noise, including from people's voices.
StoreDot
The StoreDot charger was developed by a startup that appeared on the basis of tel Aviv University. The lab sample was able to charge the Samsung Galaxy 4 battery in 30 seconds. It is reported that the device is based on organic semiconductors made from peptides. At the end of 2017, a pocket battery capable of charging smartphones in five minutes should go on sale.
Transparent solar panel
Alcatel has developed a prototype of a transparent solar panel that fits on top of the screen, so that the phone can be charged by simply putting it in the sun. Of course, the concept is not perfect in terms of viewing angles and charging power. But the idea is beautiful.
A year later, in 2014, Tag Heuer announced a new version of its phone (for show-offs) Tag Heuer Meridiist Infinite, which had a transparent solar panel between the outer glass and the display itself. However, it is unclear whether it has reached production.