By: SJP Babrevian
Submitted: 2010-10-11 14:12:05 | Word Count: 445
For many years Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries were the only choicefor usersof cellular phones, notebooksand other digitaldevices. EveryLithium-ion battery consists of two sides: the anode made of carbon, and the cathode crafted frommetal-oxide. Charging the battery, will causelithium-ions to become positive and flowfrom the cathode to the anode, whilstan electronic circuit makes use ofelectrons to balance the charge. Discharging the battery reverses the whole process. These batteries have remained unchanged formany years.
The capacity of the battery is determined by the amountof lithium-ions that can be savedin the anode. Since anodes are currentlyproducedfrom carbon, the greatestcapacity has been reached. Newermethodsare being studied, and the most promising appearsto be nanowire batteries. This research, led by Yi Cui, assistant professor, has provedthat silicon has the capabilityto take intentimes more energy than carbon. Regrettably, silicon has the disadvantageof enlargingdramatically when charged with energy. This translates intoa continuousswelling and shrinking whilstbeing used. Ultimately, this process brings aboutthe silicon to shatter.
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A solution has been found by Yi Cui and his team. Making use of nanotechnology solves the dilemma. Makingvery thin silicon wires called nanowires, turned outto be the solution. For some mysteriousreason, the nanowires can still expand and shrink, but they do not severlike the silicon layers. Sadly, manufacturingthese ultrafine silicon wires are still extremelycostly. One of these wires is a 1000times thinner than a human hair. Fortunately, as with all new technology, costs will dropwith time.
The anticipatedsizeof tentimes that of ordinaryLithium-Ion batteries have not been reached thus far. So far, researchers were able to improvecapacity4times. This is already excellentprogress, and it shows a a lot of promisefor nanowire batteries. There is however, still one kink in the cable. The silicon wires offer a great improvementon the anode side of the battery. The cathode side still needs to be improvedbefore the full capabilityof silicon batteries can be achieved.
Those who will profitthe most are any user of an electronicdevice that currentlyutilizesLi-ion batteries; like iPods, notebooks, cell phones, video recorders, digital cameras. The potentialdo not stopwith electronicdevices. Especially research in electric vehicleswill find great support in nanowire technology. Patents have already been filed so we ought tosee improvementsin battery lifeshortly, maybe as soon as 2012. Even thoughthere is still a long way to go and a lot of researchto be done, just thinking about the prospectof running a laptopfrom a battery for twodays makes me giddy.
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