To Hinder all Technology Advances With This...

What is the single most important technology today, for which all the current technologies depend on that has only changed five times in the past 200 years?  Answer:  The rechargeable battery.

Alessandro Volta - for whom the volt is named - invented the first useful battery in 1800. That was long before other breakthrough inventions like the internal combustion engine, telephone, car, airplane, transistor and computer. But all of those developments have seemed to evolve faster than the simple battery.

The lead-acid car battery "has been around for 150 years more or less," Dr. Whitacre said. "This is a remarkable testament to first how robust that chemistry is and how difficult change is."

"The big advances in battery technology happen rarely. It's been more than 200 years and we have maybe five different successful rechargeable batteries," said George Blomgren, Ph.D., a former senior technology researcher at Eveready and now a private battery consultant. "It's frustrating." It's why electric cars aren't clogging the roads and why Boeing's new ultra-efficient 787 Dreamliners aren't flying high.

Boeing, Boeing, Gone...

Boeing is the first company to make extensive use in an airliner of technology's most advanced battery - lithium ion. But a Jan. 7 battery fire aboard a Dreamliner in Boston, followed by a similar meltdown in Japan, led authorities around the world to ground the fleet this month, highlighting a longstanding safety problem that engineers have struggled with.

Lithium ion ( lithium hexafluorophosphate, or LiPF6 for short)

In 2006 and 2007, Li-ion batteries canvased the earth, i.e., more than 46 million cellphone batteries and 10 million laptop batteries.  The dominant Li-ion battery chemistry for mobile devices is based on a salt that is a compound of lithium, phosphorus and fluoride, LiPF₆. Unfortunately, in a process accelerated by elevated temperatures, this salt tends to combine with the residual moisture present as an impurity within Li-ion cells. This creates hydrofluoric acid, an extremely corrosive substance that impacts battery durability. When the hydrofluoric acid reacts with the cathode in a battery cell, it begins to leach metal ions out of the cathode. These metal ions travel across to and poison the anode, increasing cell impedance and ultimately bringing about the untimely death of the battery cell. In addition, the process can also generate gas that causes swelling of the cell, which can damage the device and even pose a safety hazard.

As a result, LiPF6  - were recalled because of the risk of overheating, short-circuiting and exploding. Additional safety features have been installed since then on lithium ion batteries used in consumer electronics.

Along with heat intolerance, Lithium-ion power packs also don't like being subjected to regular recharging, and occasionally like to swell up inconveniently -- something that you don't want to happen when said battery pack is confined inside a smartphone, tablet or notebook.

Power packs that puff out can leak nasty chemicals, damage the device they are supposed to be powering, and even burst enthusiastically into flames. None of this is good for the device, or the unfortunate person who happens to be holding it, or carrying it in a pocket.

Battery experts are split over what's next. Some think the lithium ion battery can be tinkered with to get major efficiency and storage improvements. Dr. Amatucci said he thinks we can get two to three times more energy out of future lithium ion batteries, while others said minor chemical changes can do even more. But just as many engineers say the lithium ion battery has run its course.

Enter Li-imid… 

Li-imide technology is not new. It was first patented by science and innovation research firm DuPont in 2000. The technology was then acquired by Leyden Energy in 2007, and after four years of research and development, the first product based on Li-imide was launched.

Lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (LiFSI) has been studied as conducting salt for lithium-ion batteries, in terms of the physicochemical and electrochemical properties of the neat LiFSI salt and its nonaqueous liquid electrolytes. Our pure LiFSI salt shows a melting point at 145 °C, and is thermally stable up to 200 °C. It exhibits far superior stability towards hydrolysis than LiPF₆. 

The Li-imide battery patented by Leyden Energy provides up to 25% more energy density for a given size battery, and is practically insensitive to temperature and water impurities inside a cell.

There's no LiPF6 to decompose into hydrofluoric acid, so the batteries can survive up to three times more recharge cycles and can operate over much higher temperatures. Li-imide power packs also have a significantly higher energy density than Lithium-ion power packs, allowing devices to run longer on a single recharge.

The new iPad, with its 4G internet speeds and energy hogging retina display, is also pushing the limits on battery materials. It is a bit thicker and heavier than the first version, mainly due to needing a larger battery. In a guest post on a Forbes Tech blog aimed at executives, Noam Kedem, VP of marketing for Leyden Energy, says that the new iPad’s need for more power also makes it run hotter, and also is the reason it takes longer to recharge the battery. Heat, and irreversible chemical changes over a battery’s lifespan, are major materials problems for lithium ion batteries, he writes.

Leyden Energy is a Calif.-based firm has developed a new electrolyte chemistry for batteries that the company claims will help to fix the heat/degradation process. Almost all consumer rechargeable li-ion batteries use LiPF6as their electrolyte; Leyden is working with a chemistry based on lithium imide. According to the firm, lithium imide makes batteries much less temperature sensitive.

Let’s hope Apple considers the new technology or stay with the Li-ion and risk a litany of "a Salt in Battery" charges.  Couldn't resist, sorry.

Source(s)

• http://powerelectronics.com/batteries/next-generation-lithium-imide-battery-upgrades-mobile-power-systems
• http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/health-science/what-s-the-next-big-thing-in-battery-technology-no-one-knows-or-is-sure-it-will-ever-happen-1.1435063
• http://cenblog.org/cleantech-chemistry/2012/03/ipad-pushing-the-limits-of-materials/

So “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;”

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About Rick Ricker

An IT professional with over 21 years experience in Information Security, wireless broadband, network and Infrastructure design, development, and support.

For more information, contact Rick at (800) 399-6085