Silly Putty used to extend Li-ion battery life
1 min read
Researchers have discovered a rather unconventional way to extend the life of lithium ion batteries. Using a material found in Silly Putty and surgical tubing, a team from the University of California, Riverside Bourns College of Engineering created silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanotube anodes for Li-ion batteries and found they had over three times as much energy storage capacity as the carbon based anodes currently being used.
The breakthrough, they say, has significant implications for the electronics industry, as well as for electric vehicles.
"We are taking the same material used in kids' toys and medical devices and using it to create next generation battery materials," said Zachary Favors, who led the research.
The team originally focused on silicon dioxide, because it is an extremely abundant compound, environmentally friendly and non-toxic.
Silicon dioxide has previously been used as an anode material in Li-ion batteries, but the ability to synthesise the material into highly uniform exotic nanostructures with high energy density and long cycle life has been limited.
The researcher's key finding was that the silicon dioxide nanotubes are extremely stable in batteries, which is important because it means a longer lifespan.
Specifically, SiO2 nanotube anodes were cycled 100 times without any loss in energy storage capability and the authors are highly confident that they could be cycled hundreds more times.
The researchers are now looking to scale up production of the SiO2 nanotubes in the hope that they could become a commercially viable product.
