Johnson, Dexter. “The Lithium-Ion Battery With Built-In Fire Suppression.” IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News, 22 Oct. 2020, 20:51 GMT, spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/energy/batteries-storage/liion-batteries-more-efficient-fireproof.
Article title:
The Lithium-Ion Battery With Built-In Fire Suppression
Image: Yusheng Ye/Stanford University
My summary of the article:
A study by Stanford University and the SLAC has introduced a breakthrough in battery technology; they have found a solution to both increase the energy density and reduce the risks of fire of current collectors. Their solution is to replace standard current collectors that are composed of purely copper or aluminium with those composed of thin metal (copper or aluminium) foils and a new polymer material that performs equally in terms of total energy capacity but is much lighter in terms of weight. This reduction in total weight, ultimately, increases the energy density and efficiency of the battery as a whole. Moreover, another advantage of replacing conventional collectors with those made of polymers is that with polymer collectors, batteries can have fire retardants embedded within them without affecting battery strength and energy density. This is because the shape of these polymers is independent to their performance (or strength), whereas the shape of metal collectors does contribute to their overall performance.
My response to the article:
I often experienced inconvenience in the airport for not being able to carry batteries that are potentially inflammable. This included most of the batteries I owned, such as laptop batteries, phone batteries, portable batteries, etc. I reckon this battery would be extremely popular since, due to its prevention against fire, there would be an increased degree of freedom in terms of transporting batteries.