‘World’s strongest battery can pave way for electric planes’
The carbon fibre used to make the battery is sturdy enough to be a load-bearing structure, so it can be integrated into the design of a vehicle to significantly reduce weight and increase range.
Scientists in Sweden have reportedly invented an ultra-strong and lightweight battery that, if developed further, can some day even power electric planes.
The carbon fibre used to make the battery is sturdy enough to be a load-bearing structure, so it can be integrated into the design of a vehicle to significantly reduce weight and increase range, the research team from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden said.
“We have succeeded in creating a battery made of carbon fibre composite that is as stiff as aluminium and energy-dense enough to be used commercially,” said Richa Chaudhary, the scientist who led the research. “Just like a human skeleton, the battery has several functions at the same time.”
The battery design could be potentially used to halve the weight of a laptop or make a mobile phone as thin as a credit card. The researchers say it could also increase the range of an electric car by 70% .
Using carbon fibres to make batteries was attempted earlier but the energy density was not enough for commercial applications. The new design has an energy density of 30 Wh/kg, roughly one-fourth the capacity of a comparable lithium-ion battery, but the ability to construct the vehicle with the battery means it takes up far less space and weight, according to a report in The Independent quoting a media release.
“In terms of multifunctional properties, the new battery is twice as good as its predecessor – and actually the best ever made in the world,” said Professor Leif Asp from Chalmers University of Technology. “One can imagine that credit card-thin mobile phones or laptops that weigh half as much as today, are the closest in time. It could also be that components such as electronics in cars or planes are powered by structural batteries.
Structural batteries are materials that can carry loads besides storing energy. Thus, the battery material can become part of the actual construction material of a product, which means that much lower weight can be achieved on EVs, drones, handheld tools, laptops and mobile phones, according to the media release.
The latest advances in this area have been published in the journal Advanced Materials. The authors are Richa Chaudhary, Johanna Xu, Zhenyuan Xia and Leif Asp at Chalmers University of Technology.
