New Aluminum air battery improves on Lithium-Ion is water refillable
Lithium-ion batteries are the most popular type to use in smart phones and tablets today but they have their limitations. They are quite expensive, weigh a fair bit and don't last anywhere as near as you'd like them to. In the case of using a larger lithium-ion battery, the Tesla Model S has a more limited range and a shockingly high price partly because of the size of the lithium-ion battery is needed to charge and power the automobile.
Now Fugi Pigment have made an interesting announcement about a green battery design that combines aluminum-air design properties which can run for up to two weeks and then be refilled with tap water. Yes, tap water.
The problem with batteries for smart phones and tablets is not that its not possible to build batteries that outperform lithium-ion ones, scientists can, it is just their energy properties are less than desirable. Fuel cell technology provides 10 times as much energy density than any cobalt Lithium-ion battery ever could hope to do. The latter is just not suitable for many devices in its current form.
The Metal-Air batteries contain zinc-air, lithium-air and aluminum-air which combined offer some of the best energy density figures for batteries. The issues with such a battery is that the aluminum-air construction is particularly problematic , the anode inside degrades and there is even a risk of the release of a small amount of hydrogen gas (which is very bad!).
The announcement from Fuji Pigment which draws reference to ground breaking work by Ryohei Mori and has its central focus on how to extend battery lifetimes because these types of batteries can start to degrade even after the first charge. Part of the materials used need to be regularly replaced, whereas other parts recharge themselves in a self-regenerating way.
Aluminum Featuring in Other Battery Designs
Several manufacturers are busy working on ways to use aluminum in battery designs in a safe manner. Along with Fuji Pigment, Alcoa is partnered with Phinergy with their combined efforts to find new battery designs that can include aluminum which is fairly inexpensive and highly available. Some aluminum batteries have been in use by the military for years so there is already some years of experience than could help finalize designs successfully.
Commercializing This Green Battery
Fuji Pigment plan to being commercializing their green battery concept later in 2015 with a view to showing prototypes for commercial application as early as next year. This won't likely change the mind of Tesla who are presently commited to lithium-ion battery technology to power their vehicles but for mobile devices it opens up some new possibilities.
Fast Charging on the Rise Too
Outside of what Fiji Pigment is going, fast charging technologies continue to improve with the option added to some Samsung smart phone models and Microsoft are also working on a version of smart charging that can fully charge a battery in only 30 seconds.
