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New Battery May Stop Exploding Laptops
Posted by: Tweaker
Date added: 08:50, 18th April 2008 GMT
Source: Arstechnica News
The Great Laptop Battery Recall of 2006 had everyone paranoid that their MacBooks or ThinkPads could catch fire and cause havoc at any moment. Although that string of incidents appears to be over, the most commonly-found batteries can still catch fire under the right conditions. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC in Germany hope to eliminate that concern, though, by developing lithium-ion batteries with no flammable materials. Although a prototype has already been made, the battery probably won't reach consumers for another 3 to 5 years.
"We have succeeded in replacing the inflammable organic electrolytes with a non-flammable polymer that retains its shape," ISC team leader Dr. Kai-Christian Möller said in a statement. "This considerably enhances the safety of lithium-ion batteries. Whats more, because it is a solid substance, the electrolyte cannot leak out of the battery."
According to ISC, the polymer is derived from an inorganic compound that allows organic side chains to attach to it, called Ormocer. The challenge, however, is to create a non-flammable polymer that retains its shape, but doesn't suffer when it comes to actually transmitting the energy. "Normally, the more solid a polymer is, the less conductive it becomes," said Möller. "But we had numerous parameters that we could adjustfor example, we can use coupling elements with two, three or four arms. As a result, we have more possibilities with Ormocer than with a single type of plastic."
Battery fires: soon to be a thing of the past?
The researchers already have a prototype of the new battery, but don't expect it to enter the hands of consumers for another three to five years. This is because they believe the battery could use some improvements to its storage capacity and efficiency in delivering power before introducing it to the masses. ISC says that once these improvements are made, the battery could even compete with lead batteries for cars.
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