Small in size, big on power: New microbatteries a boost for electronics

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://news.illinois.edu/news/13/0416microbatteries_WilliamKing.html#

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Small in size, big on power: New microbatteries a boost for electronics[/font]

4/16/2013 | Liz Ahlberg, Physical Sciences Editor | 217-244-1073; [e-mail]

[font size=3]CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Though they be but little, they are fierce. The most powerful batteries on the planet are only a few millimeters in size, yet they pack such a punch that a driver could use a cellphone powered by these batteries to jump-start a dead car battery – and then recharge the phone in the blink of an eye.

Developed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the new microbatteries out-power even the best supercapacitors and could drive new applications in radio communications and compact electronics.

Led by William P. King, the Bliss Professor of mechanical science and engineering, the researchers published their results in the April 16 issue of Nature Communications.

“This is a whole new way to think about batteries,” King said. “A battery can deliver far more power than anybody ever thought. In recent decades, electronics have gotten small. The thinking parts of computers have gotten small. And the battery has lagged far behind. This is a microtechnology that could change all of that. Now the power source is as high-performance as the rest of it.”

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2747

[orwell]

1. Awesome...thanks for posting. n/t

[bvar22]

2. The biggest problem with Solar Panels is the batteries.

My Wife & I installed a 700 Watt Solar Array on our houseboat in 2001.

While we loved the pollution free, noise free, work free, maintenance free, no moving parts delivery of clean electric power that allowed us to live peacefully outside the constraints of a marina on the Mississippi River,
the 1/2 TON of Lead Acid Batteries along the keel were not so cool.
Aside from being heavy, bulky, and very toxic, they were a nuisance that diminished the liberating experience of the Solar Panels themselves.

We are now land lubbers in rural Arkansas, and the only thing that has prevented us from Going Solar/Wind is the lack of a suitable storage medium.
We are not going to bring a ton of toxic, short lived batteries on to our place.
(Our Rural Grid has no "Sell back" capacity).

We are watching these advancements in Batteries with anticipation.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. Bill Gates gives boost to renewables storage

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/bill_gates_gives_boost_to_renewables_storage

[font face=Serif]03 April 2013, 11:21
[font size=5]Bill Gates gives boost to renewables storage[/font]

[font size=3] Bill Gates has given financial backing to the development of a new energy storage system aimed at cutting the intermittency of renewable energy technologies such as solar.

The billionaire Microsoft founder has been named as one of a number of backers who are collectively investing $35 million in Aquion energy, a Pittsburgh-based clean-tech firm that is developing a new water-based battery system.

Aquion claims that by using non-toxic materials such as saltwater, its Aqueous Hybrid Ion batteries are a cheap and environmentally neutral alternative to other energy storage systems on the market, which use potentially hazardous chemicals.

The company said the technology had been specifically developed for small and large-scale stationary energy storage applications. This would include solar and other forms of renewable energy generation, where intermittency of supply can be a problem.

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[ConcernedCanuk]

6. Have you checked out AGM batteries?

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. - (bold is not in original article)


Since all the electrolyte (acid) is contained in the glass mats, they cannot spill, even if broken. This also means that since they are non-hazardous, the shipping costs are lower. In addition, since there is no liquid to freeze and expand, they are practically immune from freezing damage.

Nearly all AGM batteries are "recombinant" - what that means is that the Oxygen and Hydrogen recombine INSIDE the battery. These use gas phase transfer of oxygen to the negative plates to recombine them back into water while charging and prevent the loss of water through electrolysis. The recombining is typically 99+% efficient, so almost no water is lost.

The charging voltages are the same as for any standard battery - no need for any special adjustments or problems with incompatible chargers or charge controls. And, since the internal resistance is extremely low, there is almost no heating of the battery even under heavy charge and discharge currents. The Concorde (and most AGM) batteries have no charge or discharge current limits.

AGM's have a very low self-discharge - from 1% to 3% per month is usual. This means that they can sit in storage for much longer periods without charging than standard batteries. The Concorde batteries can be almost fully recharged (95% or better) even after 30 days of being totally discharged.

AGM's do not have any liquid to spill, and even under severe overcharge conditions hydrogen emission is far below the 4% max specified for aircraft and enclosed spaces. The plates in AGM's are tightly packed and rigidly mounted, and will withstand shock and vibration better than any standard battery.

Much more at link -

http://www.solar-electric.com/deep-cycle-battery-faq.html

CC

[Wednesdays]

4. Could they be made bigger, so as to power an electric car?

That's one of the biggest obstacles to mass-producing electric cars...the current lead acid batteries are so damn heavy and expensive. And they have to be replaced every couple of years or so.

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. “the current lead acid batteries are so damn heavy and expensive”

Today’s commercial battery powered cars tend not to use lead-acid batteries. Currently, Lithium-ion batteries are generally superior to lead-acid batteries, but are more expensive:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_battery#Battery_types