Scientists at Harvard’s engineering school have made a really important discovery about batteries. They’ve created a special kind of battery called a lithium metal battery that can be charged and used more than 6,000 times. This is way better than the batteries we have now. These new batteries are like the “holy grail” of battery tech because they could hold ten times more power than regular batteries. This means that electric cars could go much farther on a single charge.
One big problem with making these batteries was that tiny branch-like things, called dendrites, would form on the battery’s surface. These dendrites could cause the battery to short circuit or even catch fire.
The Harvard researchers found a clever solution – they used really tiny particles of silicon in the battery to control and stop the dendrites from causing trouble. This made it possible to have a thick layer of lithium metal in the battery, allowing it to charge and discharge really quickly. In fact, these batteries can be fully charged in just about 10 minutes.
The researchers tested a small version of the battery, like the ones used in smartphones, and even after charging and using it 6,000 times, it still had 80% of its power. That’s pretty impressive and much better than what we have right now. The technology they came up with has been given to a company called Adden Energy, which was started by Harvard. Adden Energy has been able to make smartphone-sized batteries using this technology.
This big discovery is exciting because it could lead to making better and more practical batteries. Imagine having a phone that you can charge really quickly, and it stays charged for a long time! And for electric cars, this could mean they can go much farther on a single charge, making them even more useful and popular. So, this breakthrough is a really big deal and could change how we use and store energy in the future.
