With the passage of time, the most common thing is that the battery of our mobile phone or laptop deteriorates. In fact, when we use a phone for the first time, the battery usually lasts more than a day, but over the months it gradually wears out if we don’t take care of it. However, a team of researchers from the University of Porto has developed a glass battery that seems to increase its life over the years.
However, the scientific community has doubts and controversy around this statement, since the principles of thermodynamics require that a battery can only deteriorate after many charge and discharge cycles.
The advancement of batteries
John Goodenough (a German physicist and one of the inventors of the lithium-ion battery) and his team of researchers claimed that they had developed a non-flammable lithium battery (whose electrolyte is based on glass powder) that has twice the energy density than traditional batteries. Similarly, they published a graph showing an increase in capacity after more than 300 charge and discharge cycles.
Thus, the researchers argue that the glass electrolyte is a ferroelectric material, that is, a material whose polarization changes from one side to the other when it comes into contact with an external field. Because of this, the charge and discharge cycles are continually moving the electrolyte back and forth.
Among the advantages of this battery are not only its greater capacity, but it is also lighter than the lithium-ion battery. In addition, it is a non-flammable battery, so there is no risk of fire. According to Goodenough, father of lithium batteries, the battery will begin shipping in 2022. In fact, it may be distributed to manufacturers of electric vehicles and manufacturers of electronic products.
