Stanford Researchers “Revolutionary Development” Nanowire Reinvents Li-Ion Batteries

Dec.22, 2007 in Eco-Innovations, Eco-Science, Electric Car Revolution, Green Home, Sustainable Living
by Lance

Photos taken by a scanning electron microscope of silicon nanowires before (left) and after (right) absorbing lithium. Both photos were taken at the same magnification.

A team at Stanford University says a new design in lithium-ion battery technology increases the electric storage capacity by a factor of 10.

“A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours” writes Dan Stober of the Stanford News Service.

Could this possibly mean what we think it means for electric cars? The question this raises is, if the Tesla, for a commonly known example, can travel 240 miles on a charge, will the new design allow for a 2,400 mile trip? It appears that little change to the size of the battery itself will be needed, but a major change to the life of the battery could result from the newer version.

Dan Stober tells us

Silicon placed in a battery swells as it absorbs positively charged lithium atoms during charging, then shrinks during use (i.e., when playing your iPod) as the lithium is drawn out of the silicon. This expand/shrink cycle typically causes the silicon (often in the form of particles or a thin film) to pulverize, degrading the performance of the battery.

Cui’s battery gets around this problem with nanotechnology. The lithium is stored in a forest of tiny silicon nanowires, each with a diameter one-thousandth the thickness of a sheet of paper. The nanowires inflate four times their normal size as they soak up lithium. But, unlike other silicon shapes, they do not fracture.

It sounds to me as if the life of the battery will also be greatly extended, or was that implied?

It’s not a small improvement,”

Cui said.

“It’s a revolutionary development.”

The assistant professor at Stanford, Yi Cui, did not say this because he felt like stirring up rumors of hopeful technologies, I can assure you.
“Given the mature infrastructure behind silicon, this new technology can be pushed to real life quickly,” Cui said.

In layman’s he realistically understands how cheap and easy this will be to mass manufacture, at least one can speculate.

Cui validates this with