Panasonic’s New Li-ion Batteries Use Silicon, Boost Capacity by 30%
Panasonic has just announced a new type of lithium-ion rechargeable battery that will have 30% higher capacity than that of any existing batteries of the same size and type. The change they have made is in the anode of the battery. Whereas current lithium-ion batteries use graphite in their anodes, this new iteration will use silicon instead.
Silicon alloy can theoretically bring ten times the capacity that graphite currently supplies to lithium-ion batteries. However, problems arise with silicon anodes because of the material's tendency to increase in size by up to 400% when used in such applications. This would obviously make batteries structurally unsound and dangerous. However, Panasonic has made certain modifications to prevent this occurrence, and is currently planning on releasing these new batteries in 2012. What's more, testing has shown that the batteries can hold 80% charge after 500 charging cycles.
Immediate applications will be restricted to notebook computers. Ideally, however, Panasonic hopes to supply these newer lithium-ion batteries for use in automobiles.
Source: Tech-On via Engadget
