For a long time, lithium-ion batteries have been the big player in the world of rechargeable batteries.
These are the batteries you find in your smartphones, laptops, and electric cars. But as cool as they are, there’s only so much they can do.
As we get more ambitious, dreaming of electric planes and super-long car rides on a single charge, we’re starting to ask, “What’s next?”
Well, a team of scientists led by engineer Matthew McDowell at the Georgia Institute of Technology has an exciting answer: Aluminum!
They say using aluminum foil in batteries can make them stronger, cheaper, and safer.
Here’s the scoop.
For a battery to be good, it needs to hold a lot of energy and be reliable. In the world of batteries, holding more energy means “high energy density.”
It’s like having a bigger gas tank in your car but without the extra weight. More energy means you can use your device longer before you need to recharge it. Reliability means the battery can be charged and used again and again, safely.
The Georgia Tech team is making batteries that use aluminum foil. Aluminum is cheaper than other materials, and it’s also really good for the environment because it can be recycled easily.
But here’s the cool part: their aluminum batteries are shaping up to be even stronger than the lithium-ion ones we’re using today!
You might wonder, “Why didn’t we use aluminum before?” Well, we tried. When aluminum was used with lithium-ion batteries, it didn’t work out.
The aluminum broke down after being charged and used a few times. People thought, “Well, aluminum is not going to work for batteries,” and pretty much forgot about it.
But now, things are different. There’s a new type of battery called a “solid-state” battery. Unlike lithium-ion batteries, which have a liquid that can catch fire, solid-state batteries are, well, solid. This means they’re safer. Plus, the new design lets the scientists play with more materials, like aluminum.
By mixing a little bit of other stuff into the aluminum, the researchers made it work great as a battery material. They tested lots of combinations to see which one would be the best. The result? Batteries that could store more energy than before, made from cheap, recyclable aluminum.
What does this mean for us? Imagine electric cars that can go much farther on a single charge. Or what about electric planes that could actually fly you from one city to another? These aluminum batteries might just be the key to making all that happen.
The future is looking bright, and it might just be powered by aluminum. So the next time you wrap your sandwich in aluminum foil, think about how that simple material could be a game-changer in powering up our lives!
The study was published in Nature Communications.
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