Russian scientists have developed a new type of battery that is safe and charges 10 times faster than lithium-ion batteries

Engineers from St. Petersburg State University have developed a completely new type of polymer battery cells. Rechargeable batteries created on this basis were able to charge ten times faster. lithium-ion analogs, and in addition, showed increased resistance to cold and are practically safe for ecology.

In addition, the new batteries do not contain hazardous lithium, which means that they are also fireproof.

New development of scientists

Russian scientists have been developing a new polymer for three years and describing the polymer itself, as well as the results of the laboratory experiments were published on the pages of the peer-reviewed Chemistry portal Europe.

The idea of ​​creating such a polymer appeared back in 2016, and it was then that active work began on the search for promising polymer electrodes for new storage batteries.

As a result of the work done, scientists came to the conclusion that there are at least two directions of development:

1. The use of new materials in the form of a protective shell in conventional batteries.

2. Or make active elements from new polymers at once.

In the course of numerous tests, a variety of combinations were worked out, and as a result, scientists still managed to find a stable option.

It turned out to be a complex element from a long chain of complexes of nickel with ligands (NiSalen). So nitroxyl fragments - organic radicals that contain nitrogen and oxygen - are attached to a microscopic thread.

It was the element obtained that turned out to be able to take part in the rapid process of accumulation and release of charge.

And it turns out that in the new cell there is absolutely no lithium, a rather dangerous metal responsible for the increased risk of fire in the cell when it is mechanically damaged, overheated or short-circuited.

And in the role of anode, the scientists decided to use a solution based on graphite (but in the future this element can also be replaced with a more promising material).

Test results and prospects

So in the course of laboratory tests, the polymer created by Russian scientists showed excellent results. So, after 2000 discharge / charge cycles, the battery cell retained about two-thirds of its original capacity.

And according to the engineers, the new battery functions perfectly without losing its original properties up to a temperature of minus 40 degrees Celsius.

The only significant disadvantage of the new battery is that its specific capacity is 30% -40% less than that of modern batteries.

Scientists are working on options for increasing the capacity, but they immediately say that they do not expect significant breakthroughs in this regard. But this drawback, on the other hand, is more than compensated by the charging speed, because it is ten times faster than that of lithium-ion batteries.

At the moment, scientists are working to adapt the technology for industrial use, and according to preliminary calculations, this will take about two years.

Well, let's wait and it is quite possible that soon domestic storage batteries made using new technologies will appear on the markets.

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