New aluminium battery for smartphones can be charged in one minute: US scientists.

US scientists say they have invented a cheap, long-lasting and flexible battery made of aluminium for use in smartphones that can be charged in as little as one minute.

The researchers, who detailed their discovery in the journal Nature, said the new aluminium-ion battery had the potential to replace lithium-ion batteries, used in millions of laptops and mobile phones.

Besides recharging much faster, the new aluminium battery is safer than existing lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames, they added.

Researchers have long tried but failed to develop a battery made of aluminium, a lightweight and relatively inexpensive metal that has high charging capacity.

A team lead by chemistry professor Hongjie Dai, at Stanford University in California, made a breakthrough by accidentally discovering that graphite made a good partner to aluminium, Stanford said in a statement.

In a prototype, aluminium was used to make the negatively charged anode while graphite provided material for the positively charged cathode.

A prototype aluminium battery recharged in one minute, the scientists said.

“Lithium-ion batteries can be a fire hazard,” said Professor Dai. “Our new battery won’t catch fire, even if you drill through it.”

The new battery is also very durable and flexible, the scientists said.

While lithium-ion batteries last about 1,000 cycles, the new aluminium battery was able to continue after more than 7,500 cycles without loss of capacity. It also can be bent or folded.

Larger aluminium batteries could also be used to store renewable energy on the electrical grid, Professor Dai said.

Here

Besides recharging much faster, the new aluminium battery is safer than existing lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames, they added.

And childens swallow them and die, would aluminium react in the body and become toxic ?

Spiny Norman said:

New aluminium battery for smartphones can be charged in one minute: US scientists.

US scientists say they have invented a cheap, long-lasting and flexible battery made of aluminium for use in smartphones that can be charged in as little as one minute.

The researchers, who detailed their discovery in the journal Nature, said the new aluminium-ion battery had the potential to replace lithium-ion batteries, used in millions of laptops and mobile phones.

Besides recharging much faster, the new aluminium battery is safer than existing lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames, they added.

Researchers have long tried but failed to develop a battery made of aluminium, a lightweight and relatively inexpensive metal that has high charging capacity.

A team lead by chemistry professor Hongjie Dai, at Stanford University in California, made a breakthrough by accidentally discovering that graphite made a good partner to aluminium, Stanford said in a statement.

In a prototype, aluminium was used to make the negatively charged anode while graphite provided material for the positively charged cathode.

A prototype aluminium battery recharged in one minute, the scientists said.

“Lithium-ion batteries can be a fire hazard,” said Professor Dai. “Our new battery won’t catch fire, even if you drill through it.”

The new battery is also very durable and flexible, the scientists said.

While lithium-ion batteries last about 1,000 cycles, the new aluminium battery was able to continue after more than 7,500 cycles without loss of capacity. It also can be bent or folded.

Larger aluminium batteries could also be used to store renewable energy on the electrical grid, Professor Dai said.

Here

Yeah, heard about that on the wireless this morning, it sounds good at first blush, time will tell.

Cymek said:

Besides recharging much faster, the new aluminium battery is safer than existing lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames, they added.

And childens swallow them and die, would aluminium react in the body and become toxic ?

They’d die faster if they swallowed the large battery and fell out of a tenth story window.

If anyone else wants to read the original article (for a fee) it’s here: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature14340.html

Thanks. Very interesting.

• A prototype aluminium battery recharged in one minute, the scientists said.

This doesn’t mean much though, how much energy was transferred in this one minute?

What is the energy density of the AI-Graphite cell in comparison to the Li-ion?

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature14340.html

“Here we present a rechargeable aluminium battery with high-rate capability that uses an aluminium metal anode and a three-dimensional graphitic-foam cathode. The battery operates through the electrochemical deposition and dissolution of aluminium at the anode, and intercalation/de-intercalation of chloroaluminate anions in the graphite, using a non-flammable ionic liquid electrolyte.

The cell exhibits well-defined discharge voltage plateaus near 2 volts, a specific capacity of about 70 mA h g–1 and a Coulombic efficiency of approximately 98 per cent.

The cathode was found to enable fast anion diffusion and intercalation, affording charging times of around one minute with a current density of ~4,000 mA g–1 (equivalent to ~3,000 W kg–1), and to withstand more than 7,500 cycles without capacity decay.”

That seems to compare very favourably with the Li-ion battery.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery

Sounds promising.

I recall how quickly Li-ion batteries took over from NiMH types as far as power tools go. Would have been only about 2-3 years for a complete transition. I bought my Dad a new drill for his birthday with NiMH batteries (Li-ions were brand new technology and 3 times the price), and then another birthday either 2 or 3 years later he wanted a couple of spare/replacement batteries. Went shopping all around town looking them, but by then it was all Li-ons with other types nowhere to be seen.

While at an international amateur rocket launch recently, I was surprised to note that nobody was using “lithium-ion” batteries. They were all using “lithium-phosphate” batteries, that I hadn’t previously heard of. So presumably this has the best power to weight ratio of all commercially available batteries
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_iron_phosphate_battery

The other type of battery I like to keep an eye on is the “redox” battery family, of which a typical example is the Vanadium redox battery
These can be charged and discharged over far more cycles than any other type of battery without losing recharge ability.

Spiny Norman said:

In a prototype, aluminium was used to make the negatively charged anode while graphite provided material for the positively charged cathode.

I know that I’ve forgotten more than I ever learned about electrics and electronics, but I thought the cathode was meant to be negative, while the anode was positive.

So how do we get a negative anode and positive cathode?

AussieDJ said:

Spiny Norman said:

In a prototype, aluminium was used to make the negatively charged anode while graphite provided material for the positively charged cathode.

I know that I’ve forgotten more than I ever learned about electrics and electronics, but I thought the cathode was meant to be negative, while the anode was positive.
So how do we get a negative anode and positive cathode?

You have forgotten more than you ever learned. Cathode is always positive.

mollwollfumble said:

AussieDJ said:

Spiny Norman said:

In a prototype, aluminium was used to make the negatively charged anode while graphite provided material for the positively charged cathode.

I know that I’ve forgotten more than I ever learned about electrics and electronics, but I thought the cathode was meant to be negative, while the anode was positive.
So how do we get a negative anode and positive cathode?

You have forgotten more than you ever learned. Cathode is always positive.

people mix up the galvanic cell with electrolytic cell

1 the electrochemical cell has two types

the galvanic cell (produces power – eg a battery)

the electrolytic cell ( consumes power – eg a galv shop used to galvanise metals)