Russian scientists are working on a green and cheap battery
Nowadays, when portable gadgets have become an integral part of human activity, scientists faced the problem of creating a battery that could charge as quickly as possible, withstand a large number of cycles (charging / discharging), not poison the environment and be inexpensive to manufacture. In part, Russian chemists from Skoltech approached the solution to this problem.
The essence of the innovation lies in the fact that scientists managed to use a new environmentally friendly and inexpensive to produce substance called PDPPD when creating the battery cathode (usually it is made from cobalt or manganese compounds). The specific capacity of this compound turned out to be two times higher than that of polytriphenylamine, which was previously tried to be used as a material for the positive pole.
Domestic scientists were able to test their discovery not only on lithium-ion, but also on promising potassium and sodium-ion batteries. During testing, the new batteries went through 500 charge / discharge cycles, losing less than 25% of their capacity. In this case, a full charge and discharge occurred in just 18 seconds.
The developers admit that it’s too early to talk about the commercial use of their discovery. Innovation has several significant drawbacks that need to be addressed. For example, chemists will have to find a replacement for the used electrolyte (a mixture of lithium compounds, ethylene carbonate and demityl carbonate), which does not tolerate high voltages (from 4,2 Volts), to a new, more capacious and stable one. If successful, such batteries can be used not only in gadgets, but also in electric vehicles, making them cheaper and more durable.
The essence of the innovation lies in the fact that scientists managed to use a new environmentally friendly and inexpensive to produce substance called PDPPD when creating the battery cathode (usually it is made from cobalt or manganese compounds). The specific capacity of this compound turned out to be two times higher than that of polytriphenylamine, which was previously tried to be used as a material for the positive pole.
Domestic scientists were able to test their discovery not only on lithium-ion, but also on promising potassium and sodium-ion batteries. During testing, the new batteries went through 500 charge / discharge cycles, losing less than 25% of their capacity. In this case, a full charge and discharge occurred in just 18 seconds.
The developers admit that it’s too early to talk about the commercial use of their discovery. Innovation has several significant drawbacks that need to be addressed. For example, chemists will have to find a replacement for the used electrolyte (a mixture of lithium compounds, ethylene carbonate and demityl carbonate), which does not tolerate high voltages (from 4,2 Volts), to a new, more capacious and stable one. If successful, such batteries can be used not only in gadgets, but also in electric vehicles, making them cheaper and more durable.
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