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RESEARCH
June 15, 2009
Nanoparticles promise superfast
batteries
Embed
the right nanoparticles in porous carbon and you have an electrode
that combines the high storage capacity of batteries with the high
power output of ultracapacitors.
The electrode consists of lithium iron phosphate particles
ranging from 60 to 100 nanometers embedded in porous carbon with pore
sizes of 3 to 10 nanometers. The nanoparticle-carbon material stores
electric charges in two ways. Lithium ions from an electrolyte surrounding
the electrode reach the nanoparticles through carbon pores. At the
same time, electrons from the carbon reach the nanoparticles directly.
A battery made with the nanoparticle-carbon electrode can
charge and discharge in about 16 seconds, said Yu-Guo Guo, a professor
in the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Chemistry.
Extend the strategy to other cathode and anode materials,
and you can develop next-generation electrochemical energy storage
devices with both high-power and high-energy densities, said Guo.
Such hybrid energy storage devices could be used to power
electric and hybrid electric vehicles and store electricity from wind
and solar power plants.
Research paper:
LiFePO4 Nanoparticles
Embedded in a Nanoporous Carbon Matrix: Superior Cathode Material
for Electrochemical Energy-Storage Devices
Advanced Materials, published online May 12, 2009
Researchers' contact:
Yu-Guo
Guo
Related stories and briefs:
Nanomaterial promises record fast batteries
-- related research
Back to ERN June 15, 2009
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