IMAGE: Using specialized equipment, a team from MIT did tests in which they used a pyramidal-tipped probe to indent the surface of a piece of the sulfide-based material. Surrounding the resulting indentation (seen at center), cracks were seen forming in the material (indicated by arrows), revealing details of its mechanical properties. Battery scientists are the world are exploring… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "solid-state"
Bolloré launches BlueLA electric car sharing service in Los Angeles
The Bolloré Group, which operates all-electric car sharing services in Indianapolis and several European cities, plans to expand to Los Angeles. The new BlueLA service is scheduled to open in 2017. It will start off with 200 public charging points and 100 EVs. No details are on offer at this time, so we don’t know… Read more »
Ilika and Johnson Matthey partner to develop protected anodes for Li-S batteries
International materials company Ilika, a developer of solid-state batteries, is taking part in a three-year project, led by Johnson Matthey, to develop protected anodes for lithium-sulfur batteries. The project will take advantage of Ilika’s high-throughput materials development technique to discover new electrolyte composition options and fabricate a free-standing, lithium-containing protected anode/separator for integration into pouch… Read more »
Rimac Automobili invents the Croatian auto industry
Detroit is gradually losing its position as the epicenter of the auto industry. Nowadays, news of cutting-edge developments is more likely to come from Silicon Valley, Europe or China. The Eastern European nation of Croatia is pretty far from the centers of automotive power, but it’s here that a highly innovative firm called Rimac Automobili… Read more »
Solid state ion-conducting membrane could enable safer batteries
Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed a flexible, solid-state, ion-conducting membrane based on a 3D Li-ion conducting ceramic nanofiber network. In “Flexible, solid-state, ion-conducting membrane with 3D garnet nanofiber networks for lithium batteries,” published in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists describe a hybrid solid-state composite electrolyte in which… Read more »
Li-ion batteries a bright spot in China’s economy
China’s overall economy is in the doldrums these days, but the lithium-ion battery industry is booming, according to market intelligence firm CCM. Nearly 80% of the world’s new investment in Li-ion batteries was in China in 2014. China’s electrochemical energy storage market recorded a compound annual growth rate of 110% from 2010 to 2015, about… Read more »
Yes, vacuum maker Dyson is developing an EV
Aha! When the British firm Dyson acquired innovative solid-state battery startup Sakti3 last October, we suspected it wasn’t about better batteries for handheld vacuum cleaners. Now a government document obtained by The Guardian appears to reveal that Dyson is developing an EV with public support. As The Guardian reports, the UK’s recently released National Infrastructure… Read more »
A closer look at electrolytes in advanced batteries
The electrolytes in advanced batteries are based on incredibly complicated formulations. If you calculated all of the possible combinations of solvents, salts and additives while trying to find the optimal ratios for just one electrolyte formulation, it would add up to an extraordinary number of possibilities. Because it plays such a critical role in battery… Read more »
Bee pollen forms carbon microstructures for Li-ion anodes
Much research in the battery world focuses on finding a replacement for graphite as an anode material. One candidate is hard carbon, which can be formed in various morphologies to deliver the desired properties. But in fact, there are already millions of tiny factories around the world, cranking out as many carbon particles as could… Read more »
Will a post-diesel VW turn to EVs?
The developing VW scandal has highlighted the lengths to which some automakers will go to find an alternative to electrification. Some industry gadflies have speculated that Volkswagen might opt to redeem itself by becoming a (sorely needed) leader in the electromobility field. “With hydrocarbon combustion we’ve hit the limits of physics,” Elon Musk told Auto… Read more »