At 94, Lithium-Ion Pioneer Eyes A New Longer-Lasting Battery - lithium ion battery price
For those who want better technology, making better batteries is the holy grail.
Now researchers at the University of Texas in Austin say they may have found the battery
Or something close.
But their claims are controversial.
At the center of this debate is an outstanding figure in the scientific community --
John Goodno teaches materials science at the University.
His work led to the invention of lithium in 1980. ion battery —
Now everything from mobile phones and laptops to electric cars has become crucial.
This may be enough for many people.
But at the age of 94, he was still working hard.
"As a postdoc, all my young people are ready to retire," he said with a smile . ".
Now, Goodno and his team say they have created a new battery that could be five times as charged as the current one.
Even better, such a battery can be charged in a few minutes
No explosion.
The impact is huge.
"If we can really reduce the price of these batteries, you can do a lot of things," said Goodno . ".
These batteries can provide renewable energy for homes, ships, and drones.
It is used to make electric vehicles with lower price and longer mileage.
"You can name it," he said . ".
"I mean, there are too many things, so it should bring about a huge revolution.
"But how does it work?
Helena Braga, the lead author of the research journal that announced the new technology, took me to the lab.
There are beaker queues, and the wires and big cabinets that are connected to the experimental work being done on the wall are sealed so that they are not contaminated.
"Here, we should always control oxygen and the amount of water in our bodies," explained Braga . ".
This is important because batteries generate charge by storing chemicals.
Now, I have simplified this study.
However, in the case that most batteries use liquid to allow charging to flow between the front and back sides, the team at Goodno is using solid-
Lithium glass.
In their paper, they said the glass and the new design made their batteries better.
But many others are skeptical.
Dan Steingart, professor of mechanical engineering at Princeton University, said: "If you can finish what this paper claims, it will rewrite our view of chemistry . ".
He says the battery is sealed so it's hard to know exactly what's going on.
He doubted the team's explanation of what happened here.
In fact, he says the chemical should not store any energy, which he calls "abnormal capacity ".
Steingart said: "as respected and important as John Goodno, the mechanism for interpreting abnormal abilities seems to conflict with the first law of thermodynamics.
"If this is true, there must be something else to explain the result.
The prospect of batteries may be exaggerated.
Gudno responded to criticism with a smile.
"We have not violated any laws of thermodynamics, we have tested it and we have shown that we can get 3 volts in 500 cycles," he said . ".
The company has expressed interest in commercializing the invention, he said.
Even when others in the scientific community try to reconcile it with the laws of physics.
Mose Buchele reports energy and environment for member station KUT.
You can follow him @ MoseBuchele