Energy storage degradation in rechargeable batteries is a very serious problem that many of us often encounter.
That's why it seems to last forever when your iPhone is brand new out of the box, but after a few years of use it seems to die at lunchtime.
Now researchers at Harvard have developed a new battery technology that uses a little chemical magic to make a rechargeable power supply that can be used for many years and is poorly maintained.
The newly developed power technology is used in what is called a "mobile battery ".
The mobile battery uses the ion exchange between the two liquids to provide current.
This is a flexible, adaptable system that is used in many applications, but it is easily degraded over time and requires regular maintenance.
The research team began to adjust the structure of the electrolyte used in these types of batteries and successfully dissolved it in water.
This means that the battery can be filled with neutral water and adjusted electrolyte instead of corrosive or toxic substances, and the resulting battery is not only safer, but also less costly to manufacture.
Most importantly, the less dangerous battery is also more durable and the team is able to demonstrate that even after completing 1,000 full charges to complete the discharge cycle, the batteries lost only about 1% of their total capacity.
Compared to most lithium-ion batteries, this is a very low amount of storage degradation, and after only a few hundred cycles, lithium-ion batteries will begin to degrade significantly.
In fact, even Apple thinks its MacBook battery will "consume" after 1,000 cycles ".
So what does this mean for the future?
Of course, mobile batteries are not particularly suitable for mobile applications, but Harvard's research results can be applied to large energy storage fields such as solar energy and wind power. Reduce the infrastructure costs required to reduce fossil fuel consumption.