6 ms·

Aluminum Battery Charges in 1 Minute

18 points by popper189 12y ago

owenversteeg 12y ago
A max 40 Wh/kg is ridiculous. For comparison, I have some Li-ions that are 260 Wh/kg. They say that the main advantage is the 7x number of charge cycles, but if your aluminum battery weighs seven times more for the same capacity you could literally carry seven equivalent Li-ion batteries (!) and just change which one you use to get 7x the charge cycles.
stealthlogic 12y ago
Vague title is vague. Without the energy density of said battery this information means precisely nothing.
ComputerGuru 12y ago
Plus aluminum cells only carry 40 watts of electricity per kilogram compared to lithium’s 100 to 206 W/kg power density. “Improving the cathode material could eventually increase the voltage and energy density,” said Dai. “Otherwise, our battery has everything else you’d dream that a battery should have: inexpensive electrodes, good safety, high-speed charging, flexibility and long cycle life. I see this as a new battery in its early days. It’s quite exciting." I found that almost hilarious. "Yeah, five times less energy density, but otherwise perfect and totally going to kill lithium ion." Yawn.
- zzalpha 12y ago
  I wonder if it's better suited for large scale energy storage? Cheaper materials, improved safety, and longer cycle life may be worthwhile, even at the expense of storage density, as that might be less important in a static setting like that? Edit: Ah, they actually mention that application in the Stanford article linked elsewhere in the comments.
- infogulch 12y ago
  Charge times, safety, and cycle durability are important. Even if direct competition with Li-ion is absurd at this point, the comparison isn't useless as it gives context. For example, if you compare to Lead-acid [1], it has about twice the energy density and is probably less harmful to the environment. Also, 7000 charge cycles is excellent compared to existing types. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_battery_types https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_battery_types
- Dylan16807 12y ago
  You can quick charge about 2/3 the capacity of a lithium ion, right? And that's still 2-3x the capacity of this tech.
- Mithaldu 12y ago
  Note though that in addition to charging quickly, not deteriorating quickly, being bendable, and not being a fire hazard it's a prime candidate for wearable batteries that can be used in conjunction with in-device batteries. I know many people who already have taken to wearing portable usb battery packs whereever they go, to the point that their clothing is designed around that use case.
kjhughes 12y ago
Better announcement/overview link: https://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/march/aluminum-ion-battery-033115.html https://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/march/aluminum-ion-batte... Or the research paper itself (alas paywalled): http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature14340.html http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/natu...
- sctb 12y ago
  HN discussion of the Stanford article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9331102 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9331102
frik 12y ago
Aluminium–air battery: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium%E2%80%93air_battery http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium%E2%80%93air_battery Iron-air battery has some great advantages too (and disadvantages). It is used in hearing aids.
johnfitzeecs 12y ago
"The aluminum-ion cell isn’t perfect (yet) as it can only produce about 2 volts, far less than the 3.6V that lithium-ion an muster." Derp
- Dylan16807 12y ago
  Voltage doesn't matter at all.

18 points by popper189 12y ago

A max 40 Wh/kg is ridiculous. For comparison, I have some Li-ions that are 260 Wh/kg. They say that the main advantage is the 7x number of charge cycles, but if your aluminum battery weighs seven times more for the same capacity you could literally carry seven equivalent Li-ion batteries (!) and just change which one you use to get 7x the charge cycles.

stealthlogic 12y ago

Vague title is vague. Without the energy density of said battery this information means precisely nothing.

ComputerGuru 12y ago

Plus aluminum cells only carry 40 watts of electricity per kilogram compared to lithium’s 100 to 206 W/kg power density. “Improving the cathode material could eventually increase the voltage and energy density,” said Dai. “Otherwise, our battery has everything else you’d dream that a battery should have: inexpensive electrodes, good safety, high-speed charging, flexibility and long cycle life. I see this as a new battery in its early days. It’s quite exciting." I found that almost hilarious. "Yeah, five times less energy density, but otherwise perfect and totally going to kill lithium ion." Yawn.

zzalpha 12y ago
I wonder if it's better suited for large scale energy storage? Cheaper materials, improved safety, and longer cycle life may be worthwhile, even at the expense of storage density, as that might be less important in a static setting like that? Edit: Ah, they actually mention that application in the Stanford article linked elsewhere in the comments.
infogulch 12y ago
Charge times, safety, and cycle durability are important. Even if direct competition with Li-ion is absurd at this point, the comparison isn't useless as it gives context. For example, if you compare to Lead-acid [1], it has about twice the energy density and is probably less harmful to the environment. Also, 7000 charge cycles is excellent compared to existing types. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_battery_types https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_battery_types
Dylan16807 12y ago
You can quick charge about 2/3 the capacity of a lithium ion, right? And that's still 2-3x the capacity of this tech.
Mithaldu 12y ago
Note though that in addition to charging quickly, not deteriorating quickly, being bendable, and not being a fire hazard it's a prime candidate for wearable batteries that can be used in conjunction with in-device batteries. I know many people who already have taken to wearing portable usb battery packs whereever they go, to the point that their clothing is designed around that use case.

kjhughes 12y ago

Better announcement/overview link: https://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/march/aluminum-ion-battery-033115.html https://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/march/aluminum-ion-batte... Or the research paper itself (alas paywalled): http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature14340.html http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/natu...

sctb 12y ago
HN discussion of the Stanford article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9331102 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9331102

frik 12y ago

Aluminium–air battery: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium%E2%80%93air_battery http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium%E2%80%93air_battery Iron-air battery has some great advantages too (and disadvantages). It is used in hearing aids.

johnfitzeecs 12y ago

"The aluminum-ion cell isn’t perfect (yet) as it can only produce about 2 volts, far less than the 3.6V that lithium-ion an muster." Derp

Dylan16807 12y ago
Voltage doesn't matter at all.