As the demand for batteries continues to rise with the increasing adoption of electric vehicles and renewable energy systems, the development of efficient battery-recycling technology becomes crucial. In addition, alternative batteries are being developed that reduce reliance on rare earth metals.
Columbia Engineers have developed a new, more powerful “fuel” for batteries—an electrolyte that is not only longer-lasting but also cheaper to produce. Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are essential for the future of our planet, but they face a major hurdle: they don’t consistently generate power when demand is high.
In addition, alternative batteries are being developed that reduce reliance on rare earth metals. These include solid-state batteries that replace the Li-Ion battery’s liquid electrolyte with a solid electrolyte, resulting in a more efficient and safer battery.
Modern battery technology offers a number of advantages over earlier models, including increased specific energy and energy density (more energy stored per unit of volume or weight), increased lifetime, and improved safety .
The superconducting coil’s absence of resistive losses and the low level of losses in the solid-state power conditioning contribute to the system’s efficiency. SMES offer a quick response for charge or discharge, in a way an energy battery operates. In contrast to a battery, the energy available is unaffected by the rate of discharge.
Then there might be improved lithium-ion batteries, maybe using silicon anodes or rocksalt cathodes, for mid-range vehicles, or perhaps solid-state lithium batteries will take over that class. Then there might be LiS or even lithium–air cells for high-end cars — or flying taxis. But there’s a lot of work yet to be done.