14 DAY TRIAL // With electrical vehicles becoming increasingly popular, researchers are starting to feel hard-pressed to come up with a new class of batteries, capable of extending the driving range of these cars far beyond their current limits. Researchers at the Mie University, in Japan, led by professor Nobuyuki Imanishi, now report a new type of battery that could be up to three times more efficient than previous ones.
The breathing battery, the expert says, may enable electric cars to travel more than 482 kilometers (300 miles) on a single charge. Regular lithium-ion power-storage devices allow a maximum range of around 160 kilometers (100 miles). “Lithium-air batteries are lightweight and deliver a large amount of electric energy. Many people expect them to one day be used in electric vehicles,” Imanishi adds.
Unlike Li-ion batteries, Li-air ones replace the cathode with air. The cathode is a key element of any battery, playing an important role in promoting the flow of electrical current through the device, Click Green reports. The presence of air makes the new batteries very light, meaning that they can be made to pack more energy than their counterparts.
“Our system’s practical energy density is more than 300 Wh/kg. That’s in contrast to the energy density of a commercial lithium-ion battery, which is far lower, only around 150 Wh/kg,” Imanishi explains. The expert revealed the new batteries at the 247th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).