A team of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, led by engineer Matthew McDowell, is using aluminum foil to create batteries with higher energy density and greater stability.
Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology are developing high-energy-density batteries using aluminum foil, a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to lithium-ion batteries.
“Our new aluminum foil anode demonstrated markedly improved performance and stability when implemented in solid-state batteries, as opposed to conventional lithium-ion batteries.” The team observed that the aluminum anode could store more lithium than conventional anode materials, and therefore more energy.
Nature Communications, 2023; 14 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39685-x Georgia Institute of Technology. "Aluminum materials show promising performance for safer, cheaper, more powerful batteries." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 July 2023. < / releases / 2023 / 07 / 230719150013.htm>.
“On top of that, when using a foil directly as a battery component, we actually remove a lot of the manufacturing steps that would normally be required to produce a battery material.” Short-range electric aircraft are in development by several companies, but the limiting factor is batteries.
Georgia Tech researchers demonstrate aluminum’s promising performance for safer, cheaper, more powerful solid-state batteries. Graduate student researcher Yuhgene Liu holds an aluminum material for solid-state batteries. Image courtesy of Georgia Institute of Technology