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Aluminum bendy battery is boffins' answer to exploding Li-ion menace

Short on volts, long on potential, doesn't explode

Vid Stanford University eggheads have revealed a prototype aluminum battery that's apparently rechargeable, flexible and cheap, and could replace lithium-ion and alkaline batteries.

New aluminium-ion battery from Stanford

"We have developed a rechargeable aluminum battery that may replace existing storage devices, such as alkaline batteries, which are bad for the environment, and lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames," said Hongjie Dai, a professor of chemistry at Stanford.

"Our new battery won't catch fire, even if you drill through it."

The research, published in the latest issue of boffinry rag Nature, details how the battery uses an aluminum anode and graphite cathode suspended in an ionic liquid electrolyte. The entire unit is cased in a flexible polymer pouch, and can be recharged in minutes with very little degradation to the battery's performance.

A typical lithium-ion battery will last about 1,000 discharge cycles before performance takes a major hit. The prototype managed 7,500 full discharges before showing any damage, opening up its use for commercial storage.

"The grid needs a battery with a long cycle life that can rapidly store and release energy," Dai explained. "Our latest unpublished data suggest that an aluminum battery can be recharged tens of thousands of times. It's hard to imagine building a huge lithium-ion battery for grid storage."

In the short term, the team hopes the aluminum batteries could be used to replace the alkaline batteries poisoning landfills around the globe. These typically put out 1.5 volts, something the aluminum prototype can easily manage, but lithium-ion are a tougher proposition.

"Our battery produces about half the voltage of a typical lithium battery," Dai said.

"But improving the cathode material could eventually increase the voltage and energy density. Otherwise, our battery has everything else you'd dream that a battery should have: inexpensive electrodes, good safety, high-speed charging, flexibility and long cycle life. I see this as a new battery in its early days. It's quite exciting." ®

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