Researchers want the power-storage devices to become even cheaper

Sep 9, 2011 22:01 GMT  ·  By
Polymer batteries could soon feature gel rather than liquid electrolytes, say investigators at the University of Leeds
   Polymer batteries could soon feature gel rather than liquid electrolytes, say investigators at the University of Leeds

In a bid to improve the efficiency and reduce the costs of lithium-ion batteries, researchers at the University of Leeds, in the United Kingdom, have recently developed a novel polymer. The material can be used to manufacture batteries that have high performances, but lower costs.

According to the researchers, the batteries based on the new gel would have the same energy density and storage capabilities as a conventional lithium-ion battery, but would take only a fraction of the cost to build from scratch.

The team is now moistly interested in seeing these devices in action on the portable consumer electronics market. In order to achieve this goal, the experts licensed the new technology to US-based company Polystor Energy Corporation (PEC).

Leeds Research Professor of Physics Ian Ward was the mastermind behind the new material. He believes that the gel could soon replace conventional liquid electrolytes used in lithium-ion batteries.

An additional advantage the novel substance has over more conventional ones is that it can be made into a thin film, opening new doors for applications in advanced materials that are only nanometers to micrometers thick.

Laptops, digital cameras, cell phones, tablet computer and MP3 players – in short, most portable electronic devices today – are powered by lithium-ion batteries. If the Leeds researchers manage to tap this market with a product offering the same performances but lower costs, then they will hit the jackpot.

“The polymer gel looks like a solid film, but it actually contains about 70% liquid electrolyte,” Ward says of the new materials. Yorkshire Concept and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council provided the bulk of the funding for this research.

“It's made using the same principles as making a jelly: you add lots of hot water to 'gelatine' – in this case there is a polymer and electrolyte mix – and as it cools it sets to form a solid but flexible mass,” the investigator adds.

The patented manufacturing process the team developed to support their discovery is called extrusion/lamination, and it has be proven to be capable of sandwiching a sheet of gel between anode and cathode materials at speeds exceeding 10 meters per minute.

In a safe, cost-effective automated process, the resulting sheet of material is cut down to specified sizes, and fashioned into batteries for any number or type of portable device. Due to their flexibility, the new batteries are no longer limited to being installed in a rigid position.