FREMONT, CA: Smartphones, smart homes, and smart wearables are common terminologies used in the current technology-centric world. They are limited by electric power. Surrey's Advanced Technology Institute, the University of Surrey, has taken a new method to battery technology and described how this technology could power machines like wearable devices or connected devices.
A set of scientists at the University of Duke has created a brand new 3D lithium-ion battery printing method in practically any form. Based on a paper published by ACS Applied Energy Materials, the researchers explain the application of electrolyte solution to improve the ionic conductivity of the polymers used for 3D printing, like PLA (polylactic acid); with its existence, they have created lithium-ion batteries with less expensive equipment.
Besides printing the entire device, the researchers of this study—Christopher Reyes, Benjamin Wiley, and colleagues—have been able to give it various forms, which means that manufacturers of electric vehicles, mobile phones, and laptops will not have to accommodate their designs to the size and shape of commercially available batteries. They have also increased the battery's electrical conductivity by including graphene or multi-walled carbon nanotubes in the anode or cathode.
The capacity of the first-gen 3D-printed battery is around two orders of magnitude beneath the commercial batteries, which are too tiny for practical use. Therefore, the researchers are working on several ideas to increase the device's capacity, such as replacing 3D-printable pastes with PLA-based materials.
WMG scientists from Warwick University have created a new technology that can permit current lithium-ion batteries to be charged till five times quicker than even the current limits recommended. The technology continuously measures the temperature of a storm much more accurately than either the current tool. They have discovered that present batteries can be pushed much beyond their recommended levels without impacting overheating or performance.
