Power Generation
Korean scientists recently developed technology to make smartphone batteries run two times longer than the existing ones.
Lee Jin-woo, Professor of Chemical Engineering Department at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Hwang Jong-kook, a doctoral student of the same department, Lee Kyu-tae, professor of Interdisciplinary School of Green Energy at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) and his research team announced on February 13 that they have succeeded in developing technology to sharply increase the running time of smartphone batteries by synthesizing Sn-embedded carbon-silica (CS) composites.
This technology makes it possible to shorten the charging time of lithium-ion batteries from three or four hours to one hour or less, and to double the running time.
This scientific achievement was unveiled through the “ACS Nano,” a well-renowned journal published by the American Chemical Society.
The researchers explained that the existing batteries use graphite as the cathode, but this material has a disadvantage of relatively low capacity.
So, much attention has been paid to tin (Sn) as an alternative. Sn’s capacity is almost twice as high as graphite, but Sn can destroy the electrode structure by swelling or contracting in the process of charging and discharging. Sn’s low stability and short life expectancy were obstacles to commercialization.
To solve this problem, the Korean scientists developed a facile “one-pot” synthetic method by which Sn can be confined in the CS composite structure as nano-wire or nano-particle forms. The scientists discovered this method prevents electrode attributes from degrading and stabilizes the performance.
The scientists think this method may be applicable in the renewable energy field, too.
Professor Lee Jin-woo said, “We will develop this method even further to make ten times longer running batteries.”