One of the many potential pathways that could lead us to next-gen energy storage for smartphones, laptops and electric vehicles is the use of a solid-state electrolyte, in place of the liquid electrolytes used in today’s lithium batteries. A research team in the US has developed a prototype version of these solid-state batteries that overcomes some of the key roadblocks in this area, demonstrating stable, high-capacity storage through the use of a novel, self-healing material.
In today’s lithium-ion batteries, the liquid electrolyte carries the lithium ions back and forth between a pair of electrodes as the battery is charged and discharged. If the electrolyte can instead be made out of solid materials, it could make batteries safer and enable far greater energy density. So much so, experimental versions of these cells have been shown to be capable of storing around double the energy of current lithium-ion solutions.
The trouble with…
