Researchers managed to increase the duration of a battery by 26%
Researchers from the ORNL (Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory) in Tennessee, USA, have created a "revolutionary and unconventional" design that extends the life of a battery by at least 26%.
As this new battery discharges, an element is released that reacts with the electrolyte and gives an extra "boost" to the charge, according to a report by Victoria Woollaston on the website of the British newspaper Daily Mail.
In traditional batteries, two plates of different metals are placed in a chemical solution called an electrolyte. The metals react with the electrolyte and produce a charge, which builds up on the negative plate, called the anode.
The positive plate, called the cathode, releases these charges and thus a voltage is created between the two plates.
When connected to a circuit, this voltage provides current to power an electrical device.
In this original design, the electrolyte is an "inactive element.".
The battery eventually discharges once the chemical reaction subsides and no more charge flows.
According to the new design by American researchers, as the battery discharges, lithium fluoride salt is produced.
This helps further catalyze the electrochemical activity of the electrolyte - converting it from an inactive to an active component - increasing the amount of energy and the battery's lifespan.
The results of the research were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
