Samsung researchers create new all-solid-state battery technology

In a recent study presented to the scientific journal, Nature Energy, a group of researchers from Samsung claim to have found a method of producing an all-solid-state battery that offers higher performance, and greater density compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries which utilise liquid electrolytes.

With industries such as the automotive sector pushing the expansion of electric vehicles (EVs), improvement in battery technology will be key to EVs success.  According to the Samsung study, this new battery technology opens the door to producing larger battery capacity using solid electrolytes that are also demonstrably safer too. Current all-solid-state batteries that use lithium metal anodes can trigger the growth of dendrites which produces side effects, shortening the battery lifespan and causing potential safety issues.

To combat these problems the Samsung researchers created a prototype pouch cell using a silver-carbon (Ag-C) composite layer as the anode to replace lithium metal. The Samsung team found that using this silver-carbon layer increases battery capacity, life cycle and overall safety. The 5µm (micrometres) thick silver-carbon layer reduces anode thickness to increase energy density up to 900Wh/L while making the researchers prototype 50% smaller than traditional lithium-ion batteries.

“The product of this study could be a seed technology for safer, high-performance batteries of the future. Going forward, we will continue to develop and refine all-solid-state battery materials and manufacturing technologies to help take EV battery innovation to the next level,” explained Dongmin Im, Master at SAIT’s Next Generation Battery Lab and the leader of the project.

This promising new battery technology has the potential to improve the range of electric vehicles as well as offer increased battery capacity for other devices currently using lithium-ion batteries. The prototype cell produced by the Samsung study could enable electric vehicles to travel up to 800km from a single charge and offer a battery life cycle of over 1000 charges.

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KitGuru says: This new battery technology would not only improve the range of electric vehicles but could potentially boost the battery capacity for all our mobile devices such as laptops, smartphones and tablets, meaning more time between charging. What do you guys think of this new battery technology from Samsung?

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