Scientists from University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) have discovered a new catalyst material which has the potential to make cell phone and car batteries last five times longer than they currently do. Kyeongjae Cho from University of Texas has found the catalyst materials for lithium-air batteries that jumpstart the efforts at expanding battery capacity. There is huge promise in lithium-air batteries. However, despite the aggressive research being done by groups all over the world, those promises are not being delivered in real life. So this is very exciting progress. Hopefully, this discovery will revitalise research in this area and create momentum for further development, Cho said.
Lithium-air (or lithium-oxygen) batteries can “breathe” oxygen from the air to power the chemical reactions that in turn, release electricity. Lithium-ion batteries, on the contrary, are known to store an oxidiser internally. Due to this, lithium-air batteries boast of an energy density comparable to gasoline – with theoretical energy densities as high as 10 times that of current lithium-ion batteries. This gives them tremendous potential for storage of renewable energy, particularly in applications such as mobile devices and electric cars. For instance, at one-fifth the cost and weight of those presently on the market, a lithium-air battery would allow an electric car to drive 640 kilometres on a single charge and a mobile phone to last a week without recharging. These figures are sure to make the jaws drop of any reader who know the current statistics for electric cars and mobile phones.
Despite efforts from major corporations and universities, practical attempts to increase lithium-air battery capacity, so far have not yielded great results, Until now, according to researchers, these attempts have resulted in low efficiency and poor rate performance, instability and unwanted chemical reactions. Cho and Yongping Zheng from UT Dallas have therefore, introduced new research that focuses on the electrolyte catalysts inside the battery, which, when combined with oxygen, create chemical reactions that create the required battery capacity.
