MIT Lithium-Air Battery Achieves New Record Efficiency

http://ee2020.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/mit-lithium-air-battery-achieves-new-record-efficiency/
juuni 11, 2010 ·
A catalyst developed by researchers at MIT makes rechargeable lithium-air batteries significantly more efficient–a step toward making these high-energy-density batteries practical for use in electric vehicles and elsewhere.
Air catalyst: Gold and platinum alloy nanoparticles (the dark areas) sit on top of a carbon black substrate (the lighter patterns); together, these materials improve the efficiency of lithium-air batteries.
Credit: Yi-Chun Lu

The catalyst consists of nanoparticles of a gold and platinum alloy; in testing it was able to return 77 percent of the energy used to charge the battery as electricity when discharged. That’s up from the previously published record of about 70 percent, the researchers say. The work, which was reported online this week in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, suggests a new approach to lithium-air battery catalysts that could lead to the even higher efficiencies of 85 to 90 percent needed for commercial batteries.

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=> MIT Lithium-Air Battery Achieves New Record Efficiency.