Batteries Global Blog

Researchers have proposed a new lithium-oxygen battery technology that could make long-distance electric cars (and smartphones that don’t need recharging every day) a reality.　

Lithium-air or lithium-oxygen batteries hold the potential for between 5-15 times the efficiency of existing lithium-ion batteries for electric cars, but have seen a number of technological challenges hindering progress – primarily that nearly a third of the energy is still being wasted as heat, and they don’t tend to last very long.

Ju Li, professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Battelle Energy Alliance and MIT, led the study, along with Zhi Zhu and five other researchers from MIT, Argonne National Laboratory and Peking University.

The new approach, outlined in the journal Nature, results in a ‘nanolithia cathode’ battery, which is more versatile and side-steps a few of the key issues with Lithium-oxygen batteries, such as needing other systems to keep away carbon dioxide and water.

Existing Lithium-oxygen batteries draw in air to cause a chemical reaction (while the battery is being used) and this is then released again to reverse the action and recharge the battery. It’s that requirement to have an internal and external air flow process that allows the ingress of carbon dioxide and water. To get around this, the researchers devised a method of discharging and recharging without ever needing to let oxygen return to its gaseous form, which means no need for pumps or membranes.

“Instead, the oxygen stays inside the solid and transforms directly between its three redox states, while bound in the form of three different solid chemical compounds, Li2O, Li2O2, and LiO2, which are mixed together in the form of a glass,” the team wrote in their research paper. “This reduces the voltage loss by a factor of five, from 1.2 volts to 0.24 volts, so only eight per cent of the electrical energy is turned to heat.”

The end result is faster charging and more efficient batteries, due to lower heat wastage. Li also claimed the batteries could prove to have a much longer life than current lithium-ion models as they’re protected from overcharging through the chemical reaction’s natural process; once charged, it shifts to a different form to prevent overcharging.

“We have overcharged the battery for 15 days, to a hundred times its capacity, but there was no damage at all,” Li said.

ADVERTISEMENT

The team wants to move to produce a practical prototype within a year and have them in the hands of manufacturers within 18 months. The group told WIRED that it had just renewed its provisional patent application and is now seeking investment to bring it to fruition. The researchers added the technology could “certainly fit” in a smartphone.

A number of other research groups have also proposed improvements to lithium-oxygen batteries (or, indeed, using molten metals), as well as ways to make existing lithium-ion batteries far cheaper.

A laptop adapter is redundant only as long as the battery percentage is greater than 10 percent. And with software and games requiring heavy graphics or prolonged use, saving battery power is quite a struggle. So, let us not forget the utility of a Laptop AC Adapter- that, like all other precious things, must be chosen with care. For this, certain things need to be kept in mind.

The market is loaded with top-notch laptop manufacturing companies, each of them requiring an adapter with a different configuration. They are created according to the power requirements of your laptop. So, there are only a few things one has to keep in mind.

*Voltage- This is what helps laptop derive energy from the source. Hence the voltage configuration of the adapter must be same as your laptop. A voltage too high may overload the laptop circuitry. Low voltage may not complete the battery’s energy requirement at the specified time.

*Amperage- The flow of energy in the laptop is determined by the current. In this case, higher the current, better the performance. So the ampere value may be equal or higher than the laptop’s requirement.

*Connector Type- One obviously needs to tail his laptop to a perfect fit, for charging. There are various connector types available, according to what plugs in best into the laptop

1. Cylindrical Connectors- They are also called barrel connectors and appear as hollow, insulated cylinder
2. Snap and Lock Connectors- They have 3 to 4 pins enclosed by a thin metal pin. They are mostly used for DC adapters.
3. Molex Connector- Many different insulated wires in plastic case, having 3/4/6 terminals.
4. USB Connector- This looks like a hollow metal tip with many metal pins. They are most common for smart-phones.

The above information is sufficient for knowing the difference between adapters. So, here’s are some quick steps to follow while looking for a suitable charger for a laptop.

1. Every laptop has its model number printed on a sticker placed at the bottom of the laptop. Note the model number.
2. If you have found the model number, look inside the battery case or near the charging port on the underside of the laptop for a sticker having its power information. Here shall you find the laptop’s voltage and amperage requirements.
3. Search the model number on the internet to see any available adapters showing up. Note that it is very essential that the voltage and the amperage must match the requirements specified on the adapter.
4. Look for the connector type. Compare it with your laptop adapter’s connector. They must look somewhat alike.

In many cases, only certain parts of the adapter need to be changed for it to begin functioning well again. Separate components for the adapter are available in such cases. You may make use of the replacement warranty, if it hasn’t expired yet, or order a particular attachment online. Always buy oan riginal laptop battery as replacement warranty only covers original batteries and parts.

Laptop Battery is an essential part for a laptop, that we all know. We can only do our best by handling them with care and ensuring that any mismatched configuration does not screw up the laptop. You may look for many Laptop AC Adapter available online.

Laptop computers are consuming PCs’ market shares for its portability. But if you want to benefit from the laptop’s portability, you need to make sure the battery of your laptop computer is durable enough. If not, you require get a brand-new replacement lap top battery. So how to choose a laptop computer battery?

The first thing you must consider when you pick a laptop battery is the respectability of the batteries. There’re many laptop makers on the marketplace. If your spending plan is not so tight, then the best option would be a battery made by the maker of your laptop. But those batteries would be far more expensive than the typical price in the market. Dell, for example, has been known to charge 4 times more than ones you can get somewhere else. For that reason, if you don’t want to pay the high premium price, you can get one from a different producer.

Actually many famous laptop battery makers don’t actually manufacturer, instead they are the brander of the product. For example, if you open an authentic Sony laptop computer battery, you might discover that the power cells within are in fact made by Toshiba, Panasonic, or a comparable big name business. Many 3rd party brand names utilize the exact very same power cells as initial producers, and they cost much less than the initial ones.

Another thing you ought to consider is the kind of the battery. Typically there’re 4 main types of laptop batteries: nickel cadmium (NiCad) battery, nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery, Lithium ion (Li-Ion) battery and Li-Poly battery. NiCad battery is very old and primitive; it’s rare in the market now. Ni-MH is newer and advanced, but is not as good as its Li-Ion and Li-Poly counterparts. Li-Ion and Li-Poly are the most advanced and typical types of batteries on the marketplace. You need to be clear exactly what type you laptop battery is, due to the fact that most of the laptops are designed with one type of batteries and can not be used with other types. For instance, if your original HP notebook computer battery is Li-ion, then you must get a Li-ion replacement battery.

Another crucial thing you ought to actually pay attention to is the power rating of the battery. Batteries with the same physical size may vary significantly in power scores. Generally batteries are rated by Volts and Amperes, though most companies show battery ratings with Volts and Milliamperes (or mAh). One thousand Milliamperes equals 1 Ampere. However, some batteries have both different Volts and Milliamperes, then it’s tough to compare which one has stronger power. Actually there’s another way to rate the power: by Watt-Hours. Watt-Hours is just multiplying the Volts and the Amperes together. So you can easily learn which battery has more power.

There’s one more thing you must be kept in mind: take care with the utilized or refurbished batteries. Due to the fact that reconditioned batteries do not hold as much power when compared to brand-new batteries. Likewise, they can bite the dust on you arbitrarily because you truly do unknown how old the battery is.