Lithium batteries are getting lighter.

Mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablets are growing faster and clearer. However, manufacturers still can not solve the problem of short battery life.

The MIT associated company Solid Energy Systems recently stated that they have made major breakthroughs in the development of lithium batteries. Now the results of laboratory research are very close to commercialization and ready to market.

Solid Energy uses lithium foil as a positive material, which is smaller than the existing lithium battery positive material. Liquid electrolytes common inside lithium batteries have also been replaced by Solid Energy as solid electrolytes. Solid electrolytes improve the volatile, flammable nature of liquid electrolytes, making them safer to use in large-capacity lithium batteries.

The diagram of the internal structure of the battery, the rightmost is the latest scheme of Solid Energy. The red part is ultra-thin lithium foil used as an anode material, with a solid electrolyte in the middle and a cathode material in the dark gray below.

As a result, the internal material density of the new battery increases, which is about 80 % higher than the energy density of the traditional lithium battery. After the density increases, the occupancy volume becomes smaller, so Solid Energy can make larger lithium batteries, thereby increasing the endurance.

Solid Energy expects to test new batteries on drones in November this year. Cell phones and wearable devices will not be available until the first half of next year.

Solid Energy's approach is similar to that of Sakti3, another startup. The latter was reported to have made major technological breakthroughs in lithium battery research in March 2015. Dyson has invested $15 million in Sakti3.

The handheld vacuum cleaner is one of Dyson's leading products, but the battery life is short and can only be used for about 15 minutes in a row. They hope to use Sakti3's new battery in future vacuum cleaner products.

However, until now, Sakti3's research results have not yet come out of the laboratory.

Solid Energy has also received $12 million in investment and has news that it is setting up a larger production line in Woburn, Massachusetts.

But until now, the energy consumption and power parameters of their new lithium batteries are unclear. The only certainty is that our electronic devices, whether they be computers, mobile phones or vacuum cleaners, are going to be smaller, thinner, and more powerful.

The page contains the contents of the machine translation.