LITHIUM ION BATTERIES

LITHIUM ION BATTERIES

Subject: Science & tech

Context: Researchers from IIT Guwahati have developed a technique to improve the performance of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which power most of the portable devices used today.

Concept:

• The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was jointly awarded to Stanley Whittingham, John Goodenough and Akira Yoshino for work that led to the development of lithium-ion batteries.
• These batteries are used in most mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, laptops and power banks, among other devices.
• Today, most Electrical Vehicles (EV) use Li-ion batteries as well, but are slowly reaching their theoretical limits of being able to provide roughly up to 300-watt hour per kilogram of energy.
• These batteries can also be used to store solar and wind power, which means that with their widespread use it may even be possible to live in a fuel free society.

Disadvantages

• Some of the disadvantages of Li-ion batteries include their susceptibility to overheating and their being prone to damage at high voltages since they are made with flammable and combustible materials.
• Such batteries also start losing their capacity over time — for instance, a laptop battery in use for a few years does not function as well as a new one.

Alternatives to Li-ion batteries

• In January 2020, researchers from Australia claimed that they developed the world’s most efficient lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery, capable of powering a smartphone for five continuous days — the equivalent of an electric car being able to drive a distance of over 1,000 km.
• Li-S batteries are generally considered the successors of Li-ion batteries because of their lower cost of production, energy efficiency and improved safety. Their cost of production is lower because sulfur is abundantly available.