http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2009/03/133_41371.html


Breakthrough in Powered Battery Reported

By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

A new manufacturing method for lithium-ion batteries could lead to a significant improvement in power and charge capacity while reducing manufacturing costs, South Korean researchers said in Seoul Monday.

A team of researchers led by Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) scientist Kim Il-doo said they have developed a way to mass produce a new electrode material for lithium-ion batteries that promises higher voltage, longer life and shorter charging time.

KIST recently signed a contract to transfer the technology to a local high-tech company, AMO, which expects to produce the advanced batteries in two or three years.

Lithium-ion batteries have become the most common rechargeable batteries in consumer electronics such as mobile phones and laptop computers, and are also used for electric and hybrid cars.

Naturally, improving power and energy storage has been the focus of researchers amid rising consumer demand for the batteries as electronic devices become more sophisticated.

In lithium-ion batteries, which are rechargeable, lithium ions move between the battery's anode and cathode, with the high energy density producing the required voltage in electronic gadgets.

High-capacity cathode materials are required for producing batteries with longer lives, while high-power anode materials are needed for producing batteries that provide electricity for electronic vehicles.

Graphite has been a popular material for cathodes, but graphite cathodes are often blamed for lost capacity due to their consumption of lithium ions, linked to shorter battery life. Lithium-ion batteries with graphite cathodes show a full-discharge capacity of 372 milliampere-hours (mAh), which is not enough for extended use.

Silicon and tin have been suggested as alternatives to graphite in cathodes, but the tendency of the materials to expand in size during charging and discharging have been blamed for shorter battery life.

This problem could be solved by assembly the materials in nanowires or nanoparticles, but high production costs have been limiting the possibility of commercial applications.

Kim's solution is to use electro-spinning technology to produce nanoscopic scale fabric electrodes, which also allow the mass production of the electrodes.

Lithium ion batteries using nanofabric tin cathodes displayed a discharged capacity of about 600 mAh and retained the capacity when recharged 500 times, Kim said.

``Our method provides more efficiency in the production of the batteries and better power and capacity, so we are confident of finding a huge commercial possibility, especially in electronic vehicles,'' Kim said.

There sure have been a lot of "discoveries" for improving batteries lately. I'm hoping one of these 2 - 5 years away technologies actually produces a practical battery.

Heck, I would be happy to see a working prototype in 2 - 5 years. I wonder who will be that firm or individual or team that comes up with the winning technology. Hopefully it will come from America, even if the scientists are foreign.

It sure is nice to know so much effort is going into improving electrical energy storage. So many now understand that it's all about the battery that there’s a good chance all this effort will pay off. I'm guessing it will come about by either 1) luck or 2) the application of nanotechnology. Maybe a bit of both. ;)

All of these recent breakthroughs confirm my suspicion that had EVs not been killed 5 years ago, we could've had the Volt on the road by now. But lets not get into that again.

It also confirms my suspicion that there is an electricity storage arms race going on right now around the world. Developed countries have less and less oil as time goes on (if they had any to speak of to begin with) and besides that, there is potentially trillions of dollars to be made in selling cell phone batteries, digital camera batteries, electric bicycle batteries, laptop batteries, rechargeable AA, military uses etc.. But the holy grail of cash cows is electric vehicles, everyone knows it. Not only because during the next oil shock there is a fortune to be made (not to mention what will happen when Saudi Arabia finally hits its peak capacity), but also because auto manufacturing is one of the most competitive markets in the world, and most countries look at their auto makers as their economic livelihood rather than an annoyance when after paying ungodly amounts of taxes for over 100 years they need a loan to keep their doors open during the worst recession in 75 years.

Heck, I would be happy to see a working prototype in 2 - 5 years.
According to the article, the first product should be out in 3 years.

All of these recent breakthroughs confirm my suspicion that had EVs not been killed 5 years ago, we could've had the Volt on the road by now.
GM had no motivation to pursue EV-1, other than to show to CARB that ZEV didn't work. Things are different this time, as latest plug-in hybrid research activities are being pursued by Japanese and Koreans, whose $6~8/gallon gas price(thanks to high gas tax) and very low electricity(mostly nuclear power) at home makes plug-ins economical right away.

Weee! A new discovery to wait for many years down the road.:rolleyes: Whatever. Show me the powerpack that replaces gasoline! Until then, keep it to yourself, I'm overwhelmed with hope right now!:mad:

According to the article, the first product should be out in 3 years.




According to thousands of articles over the past decades and longer, there will be breakthrough products out on the market in 2 - 5 years. Sometimes they say 2 - 3 or 3 - 5. It's a way for them to get funding and then try to either hit pay dirt or to get far enough to get more funding. It's the way it works. Sorry but only a very small percentage actually make it out to be successful products.

With that said, we only need one good practical battery design and all the effort that went into finding it would be worth it. The shotgun is often very successful at killing, even if most of it's projectiles miss.

What's a complete joke is to go back and read old scientific magazines. I have one from 2003 that says in 3-5 years we will have normal digital camera flash memory cards capable of holding 4-8Gigs!

Oh wait...

...and very low electricity(mostly nuclear power)...




According to the EIA The US produces about 20% of it’s electricity with nuclear power plants. Japan produces about 29% of it’s electricity. However, if you look at per capita you get:

US - production of electricity by nuclear power plants:
US population - 303,824,000 persons (2008 approx)
US electricity generation - 4,146 BkWh
US Nuclear percentage - 20%

(4,146 BkWh * .20) / 303,824,000 persons = 2,729 kWh / person

Japan - production of electricity by nuclear power plants:
Japan population - 127,288,000 persons (2008 approx)
Japan electricity generation - 1,007 BkWh
Japan Nuclear percentage - 29%

(1,007 BkWh * .29) / 127,288,000 persons = 2,294 kWh / person


Thus, the average US citizen gets more energy per year from nuclear power than the average Japanese citizen! Amazing how numbers work. ;)

Tex, I think he's talking about Korea, not Japan.