Do you know that lithium batteries are getting lighter?

Mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablets have developed to the present day, and the speed is getting faster and faster, and the screen is getting clearer and clearer. However, manufacturers still can't solve the problem of short battery life.

MIT affiliate SolidEnergySystems recently said that they have made great breakthroughs in the development of lithium batteries, and the current laboratory research results are very close to commercialization and ready to face the market.

SolidEnergy uses lithium metal foil as the positive electrode material, which is smaller than the existing lithium battery positive electrode material. The liquid electrolyte commonly found inside lithium batteries is also replaced by SolidEnergy as a solid electrolyte. Solid electrolytes improve the problem of volatile and flammable liquid electrolytes, making it safer to use in large-capacity lithium batteries.

The internal structure of the battery, the right side is the latest solution of SolidEnergy, the red part is the ultra-thin lithium metal foil used as the anode material, the middle is the solid electrolyte, the lower dark gray is the cathode material.

As a result, the internal density of the new battery increases, which is about 80% higher than that of the conventional lithium battery. When the density becomes larger, the occupied volume becomes smaller, so that SolidEnergy can make a lithium battery with a larger capacity, thereby improving the endurance.

SolidEnergy expects to use new batteries on drones for endurance testing in November this year. Mobile phones and wearable devices will not be available until the first half of next year.

SolidEnergy's solution is similar to that of another startup, Sakti3. The latter was reported in March 2015 as a major technological breakthrough in lithium battery research. Dyson has invested $15 million in Sakti3.

Handheld vacuum cleaners are one of Dyson's fist products, but the battery life is very short, only about 15 minutes of continuous use. They hope to use the new Sakti3 battery in future vacuum cleaners.

But until now, Sakti3's research results have not gone out of the laboratory.

SolidEnergy has also invested $12 million, and there is news that they are building a larger production line in Woburn, Massachusetts.

But so far, the energy consumption and power parameters of their new lithium batteries are not known for the time being. The only certainty is that our electronic devices, whether computers, mobile phones or vacuum cleaners, have to go smaller and thinner, and have more power.

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