Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have achieved a breakthrough in the research of a weightless, massless structural battery that can be used as a structural material to improve performance by a factor of ten. This could revolutionize the design of electric vehicles and aircraft.
This type of battery is a new trend in battery development – building battery materials on top of various application materials, making the battery part of the application structure. For example, the battery is fused into the body material, the rivet of the building is the battery, or the whole wall is the battery, etc., etc. You can imagine the wide range of applications of such a battery.
Such a battery design allows the object to use the battery without having to carry a separate battery unit, which makes the mass dedicated to the battery is minimal, will greatly expand the application of the battery.
Today’s electric vehicles already have a certain market share, but the battery module is still quite bulky and accounts for a large percentage of the vehicle’s mass, so today’s electric vehicles make many design compromises based on the weight of the battery.
This study, published Jan. 27 in the journal Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research (AESR), claims a performance breakthrough with their newly invented weightless, structural material-ready battery.
The researchers made the very thin battery by laying a glassy fabric between the positive and negative electrodes, filling it with a polymer electrolyte, and heating it in an oven. The researchers say the new battery’s performance is ten times better than existing technology.
This battery has an energy density of 24Wh/kg, which is equivalent to about 20 percent of the capacity of today’s lithium-ion batteries,” reads a press release from Chalmers University of Technology releasing the findings. However, because the weight of the car will be significantly reduced, the energy required to drive is also significantly reduced, so the lower energy density improves its safety. Combined with its rigidity of 25 Gpa, this battery, which can be used as a structural material, can really compete with many other commonly used construction materials.”
The researchers say the next step is to replace the aluminum foil now used inside the electrodes with a carbon fiber material, as well as to reduce the thickness of the compartment again. This will hopefully lead to an energy density of 75 Wh/kg and a rigidity of 75 Gpa, which will set another record for the performance index of a massless cell and further reduce its mass.
Unlimited prospects for application with solar panels
In addition to being used in electric vehicles, researchers say this battery is useful in devices such as electric bicycles (e-bikes), satellites, and laptops.
The application of this type of battery in aircraft is even more promising. Current battery technology is a major obstacle to the development of electric aircraft. With massless battery materials, both ordinary aircraft and helicopters can hopefully change their design to become electric aircraft, and can even work with solar panel materials to store energy on the fuselage for access as needed.
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