Lithium-ion battery boost comes without risk of fire or explosions

The battery, developed by a team from the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and the University of Maryland, appears in Joule.

This technology will bring the soldiers a completely safe and flexible Li-ion battery that provides identical energy density as the SOA Li-ion batteries, said co-senior author Dr Kang Xu of ARL.

“The batteries will remain safe - without fire and explosion - even under severe mechanical abuses," he said. "In the past, if you wanted high energy, you would choose a non-aqueous lithium-ion battery, but you would have to compromise on safety. If you preferred safety, you could use an aqueous battery such as nickel/metal hydride, but you would have to settle for lower energy. Now, we are showing that you can simultaneously have access to both high energy and high safety."

The research is said to follow a 2015 study in Science that produced a similar 3V battery with an aqueous electrolyte but was hindered from achieving higher voltages by the so-called cathodic challenge, in which one end of the battery, made from either graphite or lithium metal, is degraded by the aqueous electrolyte.