Science Illustrated

The path to green power

1 New battery to charge phones, computers & cars ULTRA-FAST

New lithium-ion batteries use developments in nanotechnology to quintuple the voltage compared with ordinary batteries – and can considerably reduce the charging time for computers, smartphones, and electric cars.

American scientists from the Texas A&M University have invented a new technology that could lead to an upgrading of the lithium-ion batteries in our phones, laptops and electric cars. In short, the technology uses a scaffold of carbon nanotubes in the battery’s one electrode, enabling it to handle far higher voltages, also becoming much safer as a consequence.

An ordinary lithium-ion battery has an electrode at each end, between which lithium ions travel as the battery is charged and discharged. When the battery is charged, the ions settle on the negative electrode – the anode. When it is discharged, they settle on the positive electrode – the cathode. Currently anodes are made mostly of a mixture

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