Next Generation Li-ion batteries from A123 Systems

A123 systems’s has claimed to produce next generation Li-ion batteries. These are high power batteries based on highly active nanoscale materials that is as per their claim is inexpensive, nontoxic, and extremely stable in electrochemical systems. A123Systems’ high power chemistry is based on proprietary compositions with much higher charge and discharge rates.

To be specific about the technology behind this breakthrough company website states that

Li Ion technology uses active materials with particles that range in size between 5 and 20 microns. These large particles are required to minimize safety risks inherent to first-generation Li Ion chemistries. A123 high power batteries are based on a safe and stable active material that can use particle sizes below 100nm without adverse reaction. This new storage electrode enables much faster kinetics providing higher power than is possible from any other Li Ion chemistry. Furthermore, to take advantage of the power delivered by this new chemistry, A123 has developed novel electrode and cell designs that provide the lowest impedance of any battery of its size, and a new electrolyte system that operates over a much wider temperature range. This new stable cell chemistry is environmentally friendly and inherently safe…

Their claims seems to be substantiated with the partnerships they have formed with the big names in the industry like General Motors, General Electrics, USABC and COBASYS for batteries powering hybrid electric vehicles.

These batteries are having over 100c pulse discharge rates with 5 minutes recharge, higher cycle life and temperature performance. They are intrinsically safe by design and environ friendly also.

Alternative to electrochemical batteries

You can carry on if you don't eat for a day, but it is difficult to go on without charging your batteries, I mean your cell phone batteries, your camera batteries, your iPod batteries, taking it to worst soon to be yours electric vehicle's batteries. Yeah, but every problem has a solution and it's good that in this obscure world there are people who are working hard to solve your problems, albeit at a price.

The news that a secretive Texas startup EEStor has claimed that they are developing alternative energy storage for upcoming alternative energy resources is a welcome breather. New product is a battery--ultracapacitor hybrid based on barium-titanate powders, will dramatically outperform the best lithium-ion batteries on the market in terms of energy density, price, charge time, and safety, which will replace the electro-chemical batteries of your days. According to the company it will be 10 times more efficient than the lithium-ion batteries and environ friendly .

Much like capacitors, ultracapacitors store energy in an electrical field between two closely spaced conductors, or plates. When voltage is applied, an electric charge builds up on each plate.

Ultracapacitors have many advantages over traditional electrochemical batteries. Unlike batteries, "ultracaps" can completely absorb and release a charge at high rates and in a virtually endless cycle with little degradation.

Where they're weak, however, is with energy storage. Compared with lithium-ion batteries, high-end ultracapacitors on the market today store 25 times less energy per pound.

This is why ultracapacitors, with their ability to release quick jolts of electricity and to absorb this energy just as fast, are ideal today as a complement to batteries or fuel cells in electric-drive vehicles. The power burst that ultracaps provide can assist with stop-start acceleration, and the energy is more efficiently recaptured through regenerative braking--an area in which ultracap maker Maxwell Technologies has seen significant results.