Future Battery Will Charge Phones And Electric Cars In Just Few Minutes

Typically, charging a cell phone takes an hour or so, and the battery lasts for about two to three years over 500 charge cycles. Finally, a new design could decrease charge time to only a few minutes and the battery is likely to last for 10,000 charge cycles over 20 year duration. In addition to revolutionizing the technology that powers mobile devices and gadgets, this has huge implications for the performance and endurance of batteries used in electric cars as well. The new battery design was invented by Chen Xiaodong of Nanyang Technology University, and it was published in the journal Advanced Materials.

Since the early 1990’s, rechargeable lithium ion batteries have been commonly used in electronic device, though the chemistry behind them has been premeditated since 1912. Conventionally, the batteries use a graphite anode (negative end) with a metal oxide cathode (positive end), along with a chemical addition that helps aid electron exchange. 

This new design replaces the carbon-based anode with a gel made of nanotubes of titanium dioxide. Titanium dioxide is sphere-shaped when found in natural world, but converting it into the nanotubes allows it to charge much quicker. This gel also replaces the need for the additive. Without the additive, there is more space within the battery for more of the gel, increasing the quantity of energy it can store.

While many scientists have been trying to advance the performance and charging speed of batteries for years, the magnificence of this new design is that it does not oblige developing something entirely new, rather it radically improves what is already there. In fact, these modifications can be incorporated into existing manufacturing procedures, making it not just easier but also much better to bring this technology to market.

“Electric cars will be able to increase their range considerably, with just five minutes of charging, which is on equivalence with the time needed to pump petrol for current cars,” Chen Xiaodong said in a press release. “Equally important, we can now hugely cut down the toxic waste generated by disposed batteries, since our batteries last ten times longer than the current production of lithium-ion batteries.”

The battery is the heart of the electric car and can cost around $5000 USD. By using a battery that can last 20 times longer than current technology, it will reduce the lifetime cost of the electric car, making them a more inexpensive and smart option. 

This new battery has already been patented and the team is currently in the course of trying to build a larger prototype. Even ahead of the prototype, many in the electronics industry have uttered an interest in the new technology. The researchers deem that it could be accessible to consumers as early as 2016.