New ways to instantly charge lithium-ion batteries from a professor at the University of Utah.
Perhaps the only drawback of electric cars, which significantly slows down the mobility of its owner and spends a lot of time, is charging the car to full. Even the most famous brand of electric cars, Tesla, takes more than half an hour to charge the battery to an acceptable 80%, even using the most advanced and ultra-powerful charging station.
For a very long time, the developers assumed that it was not possible to speed up the charging process, in particular, because of the laws of physics. Until recently, it was considered that way. But a professor at the University of Utah paved the way for the study and creation of the most powerful charger with an improved battery.
Prof. Gao's achievements in this area immediately became publicized in popular scientific publications and the press. The very study of this process associated with the rate of battery charging, begun by the professor, began when he was working at a technological institute under the guidance of a professor of chemical engineering. Today, Mr. Gao does not stop conducting the study of this topic, but with the support of the University of Utah. He has developed advanced batteries that can charge cars and other equipment in a very short period.
All the developments carried out by the scientist gave a huge impetus for the further study and advancement of systems that will help speed up the charging process.
It is lithium-ion batteries that have gained unprecedented popularity among owners of electric machines. After all, they are reliable, durable, compact, and productive. In addition to cars, they are suitable for PCs and other electronics and gadgets.
The only drawback and stupor of the system is the charging speed of this type of battery. It is all the fault of the coating, which slows down the processes when the ions of a chemical element are rapidly placed in graphite.
Scientists are drawing a parallel between the action of a lithium-ion battery with a table tennis ball. The ball also bounces back and forth from the surface. So the lithium-ion during recharging moves from the positive electrode to the negative one. Thus, the time spent on charging and conducting energy is proportional to the speed of the tennis ball. Therefore, if the ions move too quickly, lithium covers it, and the pieces of graphite are not able to detect it. Therefore, to avoid fire or explosion, the battery is forced to slow down the charge rate and keep it within the permissible limits. In addition to the dangerous outcome of events, fast charging significantly worsens the condition of the battery and kills it.
So what does the research conducted by a professor at the University of Utah give us? In the course of the study, a completely new and significant phenomenon of lithium coating in graphite, which appears during recharging, was discovered. This is what makes it possible to foresee exactly when the chemical coating will take effect.
The professor presented a visual experiment indicating the state and behavior of negative electrodes during recharging. In real-time, you can see a part of the graphite and how it works while recharging the battery. Thanks to this discovery and understanding of all the nuances, it will be possible to remove the restriction with a safe outcome for the system. Thus, the speed of work will increase.
Thanks to such a breakthrough and advancement in the field of physics that it will become quite possible to reduce the time to fully charge the battery. It is estimated that the charging time will take about 10 minutes, which is an incredible achievement! It is not unimportant that all the processes will be carried out in complete safety, both for the battery and for a person. These innovations will apply not only to cars but also to smaller household appliances.
The era of completely new batteries and chargers will come, capable of coping with their direct task in just 10 minutes. And all these thanks to the study of lithium-ion charging. It will be possible to see the result of all studies for several years.