Recharge Your Phone Battery Once or Twice a Month: New Concept to Increase Battery Lifespans
Imagine not having to charge your phone or laptop for weeks. That is the dream of researchers looking into alternative batteries that go beyond the current lithium-ion versions popular today. Now, in a new study appearing in the journal Science, chemists at several institutions, including Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech for NASA, as well as the Honda Research Institute and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, have hit on a new way of making rechargeable batteries based on fluoride, the negatively charged form, or anion, of the element fluorine.
In the 1970s, researchers attempted to create rechargeable fluoride batteries using solid components, but solid-state batteries work only at high temperatures, making them impractical for everyday use. In the new study, the authors report at last figuring out how to make the fluoride batteries work using liquid components—and liquid batteries easily work at room temperature.
“We are still in the early stages of development, but this is the first rechargeable fluoride battery that works at room temperature,” says Simon Jones, a chemist at JPL and corresponding author of the new study.
Batteries drive electrical currents by shuttling charged atoms—or ions—between a positive and negative electrode. This shuttling process proceeds more easily at room temperature when liquids are involved. In the case of lithium-ion batteries, lithium is shuttled between the electrodes with the help of a liquid solution, or electrolyte.
“Recharging a battery is like pushing a ball up a hill and then letting it roll back again, over and over,” says co-author Thomas Miller, professor of chemistry at Caltech. “You go back and forth between storing the energy and using it.”
While lithium ions are positive (called cations), the fluoride ions used in the new study bear a negative charge (and are called anions). There are both challenges and advantages to working with anions in batteries.
An illustration of a battery. In order for batteries to generate electricity, charged atoms, called ions (pink and green), travel between a negative node (anode) and a positive node (cathode) with the help of a liquid electrolyte solution.
The key to making the fluoride batteries work in a liquid rather than a solid state turned out to be an electrolyte liquid called bis(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)ether, or BTFE. This solvent is what helps keep the fluoride ion stable so that it can shuttle electrons back and forth in the battery. Jones says his intern at the time, Victoria Davis, who now studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, was the first to think of trying BTFE. While Jones did not have much hope it would succeed, the team decided to try it anyway and were surprised it worked so well.
At that point, Jones turned to Miller for help in understanding why the solution worked. Miller and his group ran computer simulations of the reaction and figured out which aspects of BTFE were stabilizing the fluoride. From there, the team was able to tweak the BTFE solution, modifying it with additives to improve its performance and stability.
“We’re unlocking a new way of making longer-lasting batteries,” says Jones. “Fluoride is making a comeback in batteries.”
The Science study, titled, “Room Temperature Cycling of Metal Fluoride Electrodes: Liquid Electrolytes for High Energy Fluoride–Ion Cells,” was funded by the Resnick Sustainability Institute and the Molecular Materials Research Center, both at Caltech, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the Honda Research Institute. Other authors at Caltech during the study include Christopher Bates, Brett Savoie, Nebojša Momčilović, William Wolf, Michael Webb, Isabelle Darolles, and Nanditha Nair.
Contacts and sources:
Whitney Clavin
California Institute of Technology
Citation: Room Temperature Cycling of Metal Fluoride Electrodes: Liquid Electrolytes for High Energy Fluoride-Ion Cells.
Victoria K. Davis, Christopher M. Bates, Kaoru Omichi, Brett M. Savoie, Nebojša Momčilović, Qingmin Xu, William J. Wolf, Michael A. Webb, Keith J. Billings, Nam Hawn Chou, Selim Alayoglu, Ryan K. McKenney, Isabelle M. Darolles, Nanditha G. Nair, Adrian Hightower, Daniel Rosenberg, Musahid Ahmed, Christopher J. Brooks, Thomas F. Miller III, Robert H. Grubbs, Simon C. Jones. Science, 2018 DOI: 10.1126/science.aat7070
Source: http://www.ineffableisland.com/2018/12/recharge-your-phone-battery-once-or.html
Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.
"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!
Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!
HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.
Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.
MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)
Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser! Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!
Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.
Smart Meter Cover - Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).
| Online: | |
| Visits: | 1,599,457,616 |
| Stories: | 8,139,281 |
Whistler Blowers, Insiders
Yes, shut the darn thing off, use it when you wanna use it.