Do Our Batteries Need X-Rays?
Mention x-rays and one of the first things that comes to mind is broken bones. We recognize x-ray machines as medical imaging devices. It turns out that they are far more useful than that. In fact, scientists are now using advanced x-ray technology to examine batteries. Why would they do that? To make batteries better.
Science made a huge leap in electronic technology when lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries were introduced back in the 1990s. Indeed, the development of Li-ion batteries is largely responsible for giving us the portability we now take for granted. Li-ion batteries power everything from smart phones to laptop computers and just about any rechargeable device that plugs into a USB port.
Alkaline and NiMH Replacements
Today’s USB rechargeable batteries, like the ones sold by Pale Blue Earth, are essentially replacements for alkaline and NiMH batteries. Alkaline batteries have been available commercially since the 1950s while their NiMH counterparts hit the market in the 1970s. Both technologies have been surpassed by Li-ion.
Lithium-ion technology was not so great in the 1990s. Yet a lot has changed in the last 25 years. The technology is so advanced that Li-ion batteries are the foundation of our pursuit of electric vehicles. And for the record, that is where the x-ray machines come in.
Understanding the Ingredients
Science has long understood the basics of storing energy in a battery. Since the earliest experience of the late 19th century, we have known the possibilities of combining multiple ‘ingredients’ in a closed environment, then inducing a chemical reaction to produce electricity. Still, we have understood the ‘how’ more than the ‘why’. Applying x-rays to battery science is all about changing that dynamic.
A highly advanced x-ray technique now being deployed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has the attention of scientists looking to understand the different ingredients that make up lithium-ion batteries. The technique is capable of helping them better understand why components inside the battery do what they do.
Just like a standard x-ray allows doctors to clearly see a broken bone, this new kind of x-ray allows scientists to see how the various components inside a battery interact. It allows them to zero in on the two electrodes and the chemical reaction that takes place between them.
Improving Battery Performance
All points this to battery science that aims to improve performance. For example, we already know that a lithium battery is up to 30% lighter than an alkaline or NiHM unit. That is one of the reasons Li-ion is the battery of choice for electric vehicle designers. But scientists do not want to stop there. They want to know if they can pack even more power into lithium in order to create batteries with longer life.
In order to do that, they have to understand why the various components inside a Li-ion battery do what they do. They have to better understand the chemical reaction that takes place as batteries are discharged. The more they learn, the greater the chances of designing batteries that are more powerful and last longer.
Future Implications
Even as scientists are studying Li-ion batteries with new x-ray technology, they are also dreaming about future implications. Imagine an electric vehicle with a 500-mile range and no loss of performance during battery discharge. It may be very possible within the next 5 to 10 years.
Imagine renewable energy storage that could make fossil fuel heating and cooling a thing of the past. Scientists are working on that too. They are doing so by studying the same battery technology that powers our smartphones and computers.
