With the growing number of battery hungry apps installed in our smart phones now-a-days, it is difficult for the smart phone to retain charge even for one day. That is why many companies have developed power banks – potable charges. But even with those you have to wait for about 2 hours for your phone to fully charge.
Well, you can rejoice now, as your frustrating wait for your phone to charge would soon be over thanks to a group of researchers in Stanford University who have developed a an aluminium battery that recharges in less than 60 seconds. Aluminium is more environmental friendly than Lithium and hence it can be used for ‘Greenermobiles’.
The battery developed at the Stanford University is ‘fast-charging, long-lasting and inexpensive’, according to its designers. Aluminium was considered to replace the Lithium batteries for a long time, due to its low cost and high charge storage capacity. But, the previous attempts with different cathodes failed miserably.
The aluminium-ion battery consists of two electrodes: a negatively charged anode made of aluminium and a positively charged cathode made of graphite along with an ionic liquid electrolyte, inside a flexible polymer- coated pouch. There are many factors which makes this aluminium battery a better and greener alternative to the traditional lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries tend to catch fire due to shirt-circuit within the battery. That is not a problem with these batteries. They work fine even when punctured. Compare to modern Li-ion batteries which can survive only about 1000 charging/discharging cycles, this aluminium battery developed in the laboratory was able to withstand more than 7,500 cycles without any loss of capacity. That is why they are considered for storing energy in the electrical grid. Another advantage of the battery is the flexibility, since the liquid electrolyte is placed in a flexible polymer, the pouch could be bent in any shape and still the battery provides the same voltage. The only problem that these aluminium battery currently has is its voltage – it produces about half the voltage of a typical lithium battery. Other than that, it has a huge potential. It would charge up your phone in a minute, it has got inexpensive electrodes, good safety, flexibility and long cycle life. If the voltage problem is solved, it would seriously revolutionise smart phone batteries and aid in green communication.