Perhaps two companies working together can come out and product a new battery product that is seen to become a demand in the coming years as BASF and Sion Power have combined to speed up the cause to accelerate the commercialization of Sion Power’s proprietary lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery technology, e.g., for the electric vehicle (EV) market and other high-energy applications.

The Sion Power / BASF collaboration targets the development of battery materials to improve Li-S battery life and to increase the energy density and thus extend driving range of future EVs beyond what is currently available with alternative rechargeable battery technologies. Li-S technology already offers significant energy density and weight advantages over those existing technologies.

Improved battery technology is a fundamental requirement for more efficient use of current and renewable energy sources. The recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides for $2 billion for the development and manufacture of advanced automotive batteries. All major automotive manufactures are vigorously pursuing the introduction of electric vehicles that are environmentally friendly yet provide the range and comfort consumers expect in an automobile, features that cannot be obtained with any currently available battery technology.

(Source) Press

Tags: basf, battery life, battery materials, battery technologies, battery technology, commercialization, driving range, efficient use, electric vehicle, electric vehicles, energy applications, energy density, fundamental requirement, high energy, lithium, rechargeable battery, reinvestment act, renewable energy sources, technology development

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It looks like a new kind of technology aimed at the electric car industry is on the horizon and they come in the form of Nanoball batteries. Byoungwoo Kang and Gerbrand Ceder of MIT have improved the design of a “nanoball battery,” which has a cathode that is composed of nanosized balls of lithium iron phosphate. As the battery charges, the nanoballs release lithium ions that travel across an electrolyte to the anode. As the battery discharges, the opposite occurs, and the lithium ions are reabsorbed by the nanoballs in the cathode.

The key to the nanoball battery’s quick charge time is the speed at which the lithium iron phosphate nanoballs in the cathode can release and absorb lithium ions. In conventional lithium ion batteries, detaching the ions from the normal cathode takes a relatively long time. By coating each nanoball with a thin layer of lithium phosphate, Kang and Ceder showed that they could detach the lithium ions from the nanoballs even quicker than previous studies have found.

To demonstrate the technology, the researchers fabricated a small battery that could be fully charged or discharged in 10 to 20 seconds, which would otherwise have taken six minutes. The scientists’ tests showed that the new material degrades less than other battery materials after repeated charges and discharges. This means that the battery could be made with less material, which could possibly lead to smaller, lighter batteries.

(Source) Physorg

Tags: battery materials, car industry, cathode, electric car, electrolyte, iron phosphate, lithium, lithium ion batteries, lithium ions

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