
Everything from your smartphone to the Nissan Leaf in the parking lot is powered by rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries, in which lithium ions move from the negative electrode to the positive one during discharge and vice versa when charging. However, they come with a lot of disadvantages…
Overheating, long charging times, limited power density, relative short lifetime and the fact they are not 100 percent recyclable are their major setbacks. But these will soon disappear when the new carbon-based battery will replace them.
The concept of a battery made using carbon dates back from the 70s, but starting around 7 years ago Power Japan Plus started to improve the idea and now are presenting us the “Ryden” (‘god of thunder’ in Japan) disruptive carbon battery.
Both of its electrodes are made out of processed cotton which is turned into a new form of carbon fiber. The electrolyte in the battery is also made out of an organic fluid, meaning that there are no toxic materials in there at all and the whole battery is 100% recyclable…
Using such batteries, a Nissan Leaf is said to be fully charged in 12 minutes instead of 4 hours, while the Tesla Model S will do it in 45 minutes. Now imagine how your smartphone will be fully charged in around 3 minutes or so.
Another great advantage of the Ryden battery is that it can last up to 3,000 charge-discharge cycles, which is around three times more than current batteries and it won’t heat up whatever you do with it.
Power Japan starts pilot production of 18,000+ such carbon cells later this year for specialty applications…The company also plans to license the technology to automakers for plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles.
Even if this ain’t the be-all and end-all. The energy and effort is finally being exerted to surpass century-old tech.
Thanks, Mark