Batteries that last a lifetime of intensive charging and discharging

Impetus

University of California at Irvine (UCI) has come up with a new battery technology (accidentally). When charged and discharge several hundred thousand times in tests, they lost none of their capacity to store power.

More at: https://news.uci.edu/research/all-powered-up/ (includes video)

Mahatma Geansai

I just had a very quick look at the paper and the devices reported are super-capacitors, not batteries. A long cycle life is an expectation of a super-capacitor.

The electrodes used are gold nanowires with MnO2 deposited on the surface. MnO2 (along with many other metal oxides) is a well known/used to provide high pseudocapacitance and improve super-capacitor performance, but this is usually at the expense of super-capacitor cycle life. This loss of cycle life has been negated by using a PMMA-based gel electrolyte in which the degradation does not occur. The highly viscous gel-electrolyte prevents the MnO2 breaking off of the gold nanowire as happens in liquid electrolytes.

I don't think there is anything ground-breaking tbh. It certainly doesn't appear to warrant the media attention.

Edison invented one, or at least was credited with inventing one 115 years ago; Nickel-Iron.
They're crap but you can abuse them like a rented mule.

Capt'n Midnight

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

Edison invented one, or at least was credited with inventing one 115 years ago; Nickel-Iron.
They're crap but you can abuse them like a rented mule.

Oh dear.

This is like the Light Bulb and cinema. Edison did not invent it.

His team was one of the groups involved.


http://www.nickel-iron-battery.com/

Swedish inventor Waldemar Jungner had invented the nickel-cadmium battery in 1899. Jungner experimented with substituting iron for the cadmium in varying proportions, including 100% iron. Jungner had already discovered that the main advantage over the nickel-cadmium chemistry was cost, but due to the poorer efficiency of the charging reaction, Jungner never patented the iron version of his battery.

Lead Acid or Lithium are permanently destroyed if you let then run down.

NiCad and NiFe both have no problems with going flat. I've seen equipment lying around for years and then charge backup again no problem. The only trick is to not keep forcing current through the first cell that goes flat. ie. don't keep trying to get that last bit of juice out of them.


Anyone know if NiMH are OK with staying flat for ages ?

Yurp, Edison spent most of the time running between his think-tank and the patent office.