If you look back at the development of Apple's iPhone or Toyota Prius hybrid from the original model to the existing version, people will find a common track in the technology industry: double the performance and more products. Exquisite, created countless jobs, and even subverted the entire industry.
For example, the iPhone's largest theoretical download speed in cellular networks has risen from 1 megabyte/second of the 2007 "2G" iPhone to 300 megabytes/second of today's 5s model. The pixel density of its display has more than doubled, and the camera has changed from a cheap accessory to a practical camera tool, and its software capabilities are much more powerful than when the iPhone was born.
Similarly, Toyota's Prius Hybrid has transformed itself into a top-selling vehicle in Japan and California from its neighboring freak in 2000 (and its star-studded accessories). The current model engine is 20% lighter than the original model (20% increase in total power) and has a longer mileage after a single charge. Some people will say that without the Prius, there will be no Tesla electric cars today.
However, one of these devices has not changed over the years, and that is the lithium-ion battery. Whether it's on the iPhone, the Prius, or even the Tesla S model, the lithium battery is the material used by Sony in 1991 when it launched the product. Of course, this is not to say that people have not innovated for this battery. Device manufacturers are getting better at charging efficiency, cooling, and controlling the flow of current into cell phones, cars, laptops, and USB components, but the cores of these cells haven't changed. Even the $5 billion ultra-large battery manufacturing plant that Tesla plans to build is still a lithium battery pack (as you might expect).
Further investigations have found that people are still dissatisfied with which battery technology may be able to replace lithium batteries, and even few rumors in this regard.
To explore the reasons, Fortune asked a simple question to five well-known researchers working on a next-generation battery, a behavioral economist, and a battery industry executive: Why is battery technology a reality? Is the speed so much slower than hardware?
Next, you will find that 10% of the answer is related to chemistry, 10% is related to psychology, and 20% is related to the question of the above question: once a new battery technology has not been developed for 20 years, once installed Car, who wants to be the first person to drive the car?
Today's battery technology: high density, large heat, and many problems
Lithium-ion battery technology is the main force of mobile power in many aspects.
The atomic weight of lithium is 3. If you remember middle school chemistry, it means that it has three protons, very light, and is the most densely packed element per unit volume except hydrogen and helium. Professor Carlo of the Illinois Illinois Institute of Technology (IllinoisInsTItuteofTechnology) Segre said that the physical quantity of lithium is well known to chemists, and we have almost mastered the way lithium ions flow through the battery.
Segre said, "I think the reason is that lithium is so good because it is very light and can easily penetrate the separator. And it produces the highest voltage among the known materials."
Lithium is not the only material in lithium batteries, but it is also mixed with manganese (personal electronics and vehicles), iron phosphate (high-strength work) and other metals. To generate a voltage, this mixture flows through another material: graphite, titanium solution, silicon, and different forms of carbon (as the case may be). For most non-industrial equipment used in relatively safe environments, lithium manganese oxide flows through the graphite because it is inexpensive, relatively safe, and dense.
But this old product also has some problems. This process generates heat in a high-density space and requires some cooling. (For example, liquid cooling equipment equivalent to Tesla's body length is responsible for a lot of cooling work.) Lithium-ion-conducting electrolyte increases the weight of the battery. The capacity of the battery will drop after a while. Charging will allow lithium ions to flow back, but this process can be faster. High-density lithium batteries filled with electrolytes sometimes explode or explode after a certain amount of heat is generated, although this is rare.
We may use air in the future.
Chandra Sekar Narayan, Director of the Science and Technology Department at IBM Research, is a member of the Battery 500 Project. The goal of the project is to develop batteries that provide the power needed to travel 500 miles. Instead of producing batteries, IBM itself works with consumer product manufacturers to bring this technology to life.
After years of hard work, Narayan saw the prospect of lithium-air technology, replacing graphite and other metals with oxygen supplied by the car itself. These batteries can be made lighter, safer, and last longer. But it takes a very long time to develop new blends, make them into new materials, and test their safety on thousands of cars.
Narayan said: "There is no guiding principle at present. We can make progress year after year, and there is no shortcut. If you want to get this paradigm, you can only create a new chemical reaction, and this is not the case. Innovation can be achieved."
Currently, lithium-air batteries must overcome clogging, internal corrosion and stability issues. Even if the air battery can smoothly evolve into a viable product, Narayan believes that in the future, battery technology will no longer be "universal." "For example, for grid storage, it may not be a good technology. Especially in industries with size requirements, we may soon see a wide variety of battery types."
What can we do now: lower the price
Kevin White and Zhou Xuan of Kettering University are engaged in battery industry research in the laboratory, but their conversations are more like nerds who buy cars than labs. Zhou Xuan said that today's hybrid vehicles have many advantages and disadvantages.
Zhou Xuan said: "At present, the price of hybrid power is 500-600 US dollars per kWh, but the reasonable price should be 200 US dollars. And the price of the cooling system is similar to the price of the battery. If the car needs $ 6,000 The battery, then the need for a $6,000 cooling system." In addition, Kevin White pointed out that the size of this type of battery encroached on the space that should belong to the trunk or ride. The two scientists also believe that electric vehicles should not impose a heavy financial burden on people.
But no one knows which existing materials can be used to construct the safest, lowest heat and lightest battery mix, and at a lower price than existing products.
The zinc-air battery used in the field of hearing aids has rekindled interest, and it is particularly important that zinc is readily available. The sodium-air battery is the same, the cost is lower, and it is easier to assemble, but the potential power cannot keep up with the lithium-air battery. People have also tried to replace graphite and solid carbon with silicon, but silicon is not cheap. Alternatively, we can focus solely on improving the cost and performance of lithium-iron batteries used in laboratories and motorcycles.
Kevin White said that building larger battery plants, developing better battery management tools, and smarter charging grids is more effective than waiting for the success of one or two new compounds.
Kevin White said: "We are actually far away from the use of new batteries. Only after 10 years of testing new materials, the automotive industry can use new materials with confidence." He said that people must wait until at least 2020. Only four-wheeled vehicles using zinc-air batteries can be seen in years, and then it takes longer for people to see the maturity of this battery technology.
What can we do in the future: nanoengineering materials
Pasha Mukhoji, a professor at Texas A&M University and a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Energy and Sustainability Nanoengineering, said that it is not yet time to give up lithium-ion batteries. We may still use it, but it will be mixed with the materials we get new capabilities in the lab.
Nanoengineers may delve into the molecular structure of battery materials to speed up cell voltage generation and increase conversion efficiency. The way the electrolyte carries lithium ions may change to eliminate "traffic congestion" and reduce charging time. People may design thinner, more powerful, yet retractable battery membranes so that even if the battery expands, it will not burst. Or single-mindedly develop materials that can absorb more lithium ions than carbon, air, or any known material.
Muk Hoji said: "The most fundamental question we need to ask is, 'Can you start all over again?' This is the mesoscale model that must be solved. Can we increase the tolerance of materials to meet our demands for batteries? ?"
At the same time: focus on the long term
A year ago, Segre, of the Illinois Institute of Technology, received $3.4 million in prize money from the US Department of Energy for the development of "fluid batteries" for automobiles. The fluid battery stores its active compound in an external storage tank and then flows through the interior of the battery structure. Segre's work focuses on developing liquid media with sufficient activity and energy to counteract the weight disadvantage of liquids.
Fluid batteries may be used in cars and power grids, but they are not suitable for mobile phones or laptops. Like other researchers, Sergey knows that this will be a long experimental process unless researchers can accidentally discover several different combinations of materials that can be used in batteries. At the same time, "for most people, this is a particularly painful thing, because after a few years, the power is gone and the capacity is down, but battery-powered electronics are moving forward."
Semi-Round Sensor Automatic Dustbin
Stainless Trash Can,Semi-Round Sensor Automatic Dustbin,Semi-Round Series Sensor Dustbin,Semi-Round Sharp Sensor Dustbin
NINGBO ZIXING ELECTRONIC CO.,LTD. , https://www.zixingautobin.com