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Do you love your latest gadget but despair at how quickly it runs out of juice? Researchers at Stanford have come up with a new battery technology that has the potential to last four times as long as current Li-Ion batteries.
Although the technology is still experimental at this stage, the team behind the breakthrough believes that lithium-sulfur batteries will also be safer (less likely to overheat or explode) than batteries commonly deployed in laptops and gadgets today.
In the new design, the Stanford team have leveraged silicon nanowire anode technology, which they developed in 2007. The cathode in the new design is constructed out of a lithium sulfide / mesoporous carbon composite.
Batteries utilizing the new technology are a way off yet, however, as the current prototypes only last for around 40-50 charge cycles (versus 300-500 for lithium-ion batteries). However, with further development, lithium-sulfide batteries will likely one day become commercially viable and end up powering our favourite devices.
