U.S. 5X Battery Research Sets Three Paths For Replacing Lithium 172
dcblogs writes "One year ago this month, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a $120 million plan to develop a technology capable of radically extending battery life. 'We want to change the game, basically,' said George Crabtree, a senior scientist at Argonne National Laboratory and a physics professor who is leading the effort. The goal is to develop a battery that can deliver five times the performance, measured in energy density, that's also five times cheaper, and do it in five years. They are looking at three research areas. Researchers are considering replacing the lithium with magnesium that has two charges, or aluminum, which has three charges. Another approach investigates replacing the intercalation step with a true chemical reaction. A third approach is the use of liquids to replace crystalline anodes and cathodes, which opens up more space for working ions."
Re:Carbon Nanotubes (Score:2, Funny)
Yes, Carbon is even better because it has FOUR charges!
Re:Carbon Nanotubes (Score:2, Funny)
Screw it all, we're doing five charges. How does it work? Shut up I'm telling you how it works.
Re: Awesome! (Score:5, Funny)
Nonsense, this is bleeding edge. In a few weeks, they'll realize that they can use lead, with three charges. Then if they apply that liquid bath, say with a true chemical reaction.... ...hmm, I wonder if sulfuric acid could do the trick....
then they'll have a real, working battery that can compete with Lithium!!!
And you thought this was last year's news?!?
Re: Awesome! (Score:5, Funny)
You know, if they ever perfect those lead batteries, I think they'd also have the benefit of providing hydrogen as a waste product, which is AWESOME because then we can run our fuel cells with it!
It's win-win-win, baybee! Free energy is like money in the bank!
(Now pass me that crack pipe!)
Scientific Breakthrough (Score:0, Funny)
As everybody knows, every major scientific breakthrough came through government funded research groups setting ambitious goals and a time frame.
You can't replace Einstein with 100 scientists.
Re: Awesome! (Score:5, Funny)
Are you CRAZY... You cant put acid in consumer controlled devices.
Sulfiric acid can cause severe burns, imagine what would happen if there where industrial or transport accidents and it leaked on people, and what if people take the acid out and thrown in people faces...
No way would the government let people have control of such powerful chemistry, well at least without strict licensing and enforcment laws. You just cant trust society with this sort of technology, its just a matter of time till its used by the terrrist.
Im going to start writting letters straight away about this !!!
Re:Scientific Breakthrough (Score:3, Funny)
I think we should call it Obamabattery and have IRS fine anybody who doesn't use it.
Re: Awesome! (Score:4, Funny)