Researchers around the world have taken up the quest for a better battery, and lithium-air is one of the many promising routes to the Grail. This week, a team from MIT described an improved way to make nanowires for a lithium-air battery electrode using – of all things – viruses. “Biologically enhanced cathode design for… Read more »
BASF has announced that it will invest $25 million to renovate and expand its R&D facility in Beachwood, Ohio. In addition to the existing catalyst and battery materials research, the facility is being renovated to make space for a new cathode materials research team. Construction is underway and completion is expected in early 2014. The… Read more »
Researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have discovered a means to extend the lifetime of lithium-air (Li-air) batteries, a technology that offers the promise of higher energy densities than those achievable with conventional lithium-ion batteries. They report their findings in the February issue of the journal ChemSusChem. Li-air batteries are… Read more »
A report from technology advisory firm Lux Research predicts that new battery technologies will become strong competitors with existing lithium-ion technology by 2020, and that solid-state batteries will surpass Li-ion by 2030. However, consumer electronics, not electric vehicles, will be the market driving the advances. “While much of the motivation for next-generation batteries – whether… Read more »
After decades of patent-protected breakthroughs, PolyPlus stands poised to make its first commercial move from its trio of power-dense battery technologies: lithium-sulfur, lithium-water, and lithium-air. It’s a balmy, 95-degree August day in the nation’s capital, but Steven J. Visco, PhD, the CEO, CTO, and co-founder of PolyPlus, sits in the climate-controlled comfort of the White House… Read more »
Electric vehicles (EVs) have their partisans and detractors. Supporters see the be-all and end-all transportation solution, while opponents argue the technology is too young. Somewhere between the two extremes lies the truth: today’s commercially available EVs have strengths and weaknesses compared to internal combustion engine (ICEs). The strong points include lower operating costs and lack… Read more »
Researchers in Italy, South Korea, and Scotland have reported designing lithium-air batteries with major advancements in charge and discharge cycles with little capacity loss.
The PolyPlus lithium-water battery has achieved the highest energy density ever recorded – 1,300 Wh/kg, far more than the maximum delivered by current lithium-ion batteries.
IBM announced Friday that Asahi Kasei and Central Glass will join its Battery 500 Project team to collaborate on research into lithium-air batteries. The two companies have some very pertinent expertise, due to their existing work with lithium-ion batteries – Chemical manufacturer Asahi Kasei makes separator membrane, and Central Glass supplies electrolytes. The… Read more »
Seth Fletcher, in the epilogue to his book about the burgeoning lithium economy, asks: “Will this last? Is this…the beginning of something enduring – a new era for transportation, energy and American high tech manufacturing? Or will it turn out to be a portrait of another false start, an anomalous couple of years in which,… Read more »