For many years Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries were the only optionfor usersof mobile phones, notebooksand other electronicdevices. EveryLithium-ion battery consists of two parts: the anode made of carbon, and the cathode made ofmetal-oxide. Charging the battery, causeslithium-ions to become positive and flowfrom the cathode to the anode, whereasan electronic circuit useselectrons to balance the charge. Discharging the battery reverses the whole process. These batteries have remained unchanged forquite some time.
The capacity of the battery is determined by the totalof lithium-ions that can be savedin the anode. Since anodes are currentlycreatedfrom carbon, the maximumcapacity has been reached. Modernmethodsare being studied, and the most promising appearsto be nanowire batteries. This research, led by Yi Cui, assistant professor, has revealedthat silicon has the capacityto soak up10times more energy than carbon. Sadly, silicon has the disadvantageof enlargingdramatically when charged with energy. This translates intoa continualswelling and shrinking whilebeing used. Ultimately, this process causesthe silicon to fracture.
A solution has been found by Yi Cui and his team. Making use of nanotechnology solves the difficulty. Creatingvery thin silicon wires called nanowires, turned outto be the solution. For some unknownreason, the nanowires can still expand and shrink, but they do not severlike the silicon layers. Unfortunately, producingthese veryfine silicon wires are still tremendouslycostly. One of these wires is a thousandtimes thinner than a human hair. Luckily, as with all new technology, costs will dropwith time.
The projectedsizeof tentimes that of normalLithium-Ion batteries have not been reached thus far. So far, researchers were able to increasecapacityfourtimes. This is already admirableimprovement, and it shows a a lot of promisefor nanowire batteries. There is nevertheless, still one kink in the cable. The silicon wires offer a great enhancementon the anode side of the battery. The cathode side still needs to be enhancedbefore the full capabilityof silicon batteries can be accomplished.
Those who will benefitthe most are any user of an digitaldevice that at this timeusesLi-ion batteries; like iPods, laptops, cell phones, video recorders, digital cameras. The advantagesdo not endwith digitaldevices. Especially research in electric vehicleswill find great support in nanowire technology. Patents have already been filed so we should certainlysee advancementsin battery lifereally soon, maybe as soon as 2012. Even ifthere is still a long way to go and a lot of developmentto be done, just thinking about the possibilityof running a notebookfrom a battery for 2 days makes me excited.
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