New Battery Can Charge 120 Times Faster

The Chevy Volt

A group of Korean scientists, working at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), have developed a fast-charge lithium-ion battery that can be recharged 30 to 120 times faster than conventional li-ion batteries. The team believes it can build a battery pack for electric vehicles that can be fully charged in less than a minute.

One of the main issues with rechargeable batteries is that they take longer to recharge as their physical volume grows. When you recharge a battery, it charges from the outside in — so the larger the battery, the longer it takes. You can somewhat avoid this by breaking larger batteries into smaller individual cells, but that technique only gets you so far.

The Korean method takes the cathode material — standard lithium manganese oxide (LMO) in this case — and soaks it in a solution containing graphite. Then, by carbonizing the graphite-soaked LMO, the graphite turns into a dense network of conductive traces that run throughout the cathode. This new cathode is then packaged normally, with an electrolyte and graphite anode, to create the fast-charging li-ion battery. Other factors, such as the battery’s energy density and cycle life seem to remain unchanged.

These networks of carbonized graphite effectively act like blood vessels, allowing every part of the battery to recharge at the same time — thus speeding up recharge by 30 to 120 times.

Now, for all intents and purposes, this is a standard lithium-ion battery that could be used in smartphones and laptops — but the network of conductive traces does increase the overall size of the battery, so it’s probably better suited for use in electric vehicles (EVs). Obviously, an EV that can be recharged in under a minute is pretty crazy — though it still only brings them in-line with their gas-guzzling cousins. Being able to charge quickly is convenient, but it doesn't get around the fact that li-ion battery packs are incredibly expensive — and the Korean carbonized LMO battery certainly won’t be cheap.

I could see fast-charge batteries as being a nice option for smartphone and laptop users, though: You could have a normal battery and a fast-charge battery, and switch in whichever one makes most sense for your daily routine. Fast-charge batteries could be convenient in wireless mice and keyboards, and other gizmos, too.

Other Great Reads

• Save Big on Laptop and Phone Batteries
• Complete Guide: The Different Battery Types and Technologies
• Top 5 Laptop Battery Myths

Edited by Limewit Tech Blog
Written by Sebastian Anthony
Photos courtesy of UNIST

How Does A Rechargeable Battery Work?

How Does A Rechargeable Battery Work?

Rechargeable batteries behave like ordinary batteries when they are being discharged. An electrical circuit is created when one material oxidizes, or gives up electrons, while another material immersed in an electrolyte becomes reduced, or gains electrons. The key to a rechargeable battery, however, is that it can reverse this flow of electrons when it is plugged into an electrical outlet (see image above). The material that oxidizes during discharge gains electrons, while the other material gives up electrons.

A More Detailed and Scientific Response

"All batteries, both rechargeable and nonrechargeable, undergo electrochemical reactions. When a battery is discharged, an electrochemical oxidation reaction proceeds at the negative electrode, and an electrochemical reduction reaction occurs at the positive electrode. When one attempts to recharge a battery by reversing the direction of electric current flow, the opposite takes place: a reduction reaction proceeds at the negative electrode, and an oxidation reaction takes place at the positive electrode.

In the case of the rechargeable battery, the electrochemical oxidation- reduction reactions are reversible at both electrodes. For example, when the battery is recharged, the overall electrochemical reduction reaction at the negative electrode is identical to the electrochemical oxidation reaction that proceeded at the negative electrode when the battery was discharged, only written in reverse."

-Frank McLarnon, staff scientist/principal investigator in the Energy & Environment Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Limewit.com, is an excellent source for portable and mobile rechargeable batteries. The majority of these are Li-iOn (lithium-ion) which outperform other battery cell technologies. They also have a higher capacity, no memory effect, faster charge times, and have a longer shelf/operational life.