New types of advanced batteries may soon become a reality

Nov 18, 2013 14:29 GMT  ·  By
Stanford and SLAC experts present the first self-healing battery electrode ever created
   Stanford and SLAC experts present the first self-healing battery electrode ever created

A group of investigators with the US Department of Energy SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the Stanford University announces the development of the first-ever self-healing battery electrode. This could lead to the creation of advanced lithium-ion batteries for numerous applications. 

Developing advanced Li-Ion batteries is very important economically, since these power sources are used in smartphones, tablets, laptops, electric cars, and a host of other devices. What the team did in the new study was to create a stretchy polymer that prevents cracks in electrodes from destroying it.

Details of how this protective coating works were published in the November 19 issue of the top scientific journal Nature Chemistry. Scientists with the research group say that the polymer is able to conduct electricity only after being treated with carbon nanoparticles.

“We found that silicon electrodes lasted 10 times longer when coated with the self-healing polymer, which repaired any cracks within just a few hours,” explains Stanford Professor of chemical engineering Zhenan Bao, whose research group was in charge of this investigation.