Tel Aviv U. Scientists Developing Ultimate Batteries

Tel Aviv U. Scientists Developing Ultimate Batteries
By Arutz Sheva Staff

| Just as Apple, Dell, and Sony are recalling
| hazardous laptop batteries ...

Scientists at Tel Aviv University have developed
new technology to greatly improve battery
performance and decrease the risks associated
with the lithium-based batteries currently used.

Batteries are the bottle-neck for electronic devices' ability to
operate effectively, the project's head, Professor Menachem Nathan told
Israel21c.org. Mobile devices need more and more battery power, and
consumers are seeking products that take the shortest amount of time to
charge.

The demand has resulted in lithium-heavy batteries that heat to high
temperatures, posing a fire hazard. "The problem we're dealing with
here is the flammability of lithium batteries. There have been a few
dozen cases - especially in laptops - of them bursting into flames,"
Nathan said. "It's not really a new problem, it's existed since lithium
batteries came into being, but it's only come to the forefront when
Dell made the recall - it became a bit more public.

"The development of our technology wasn't actually geared to solve the
flammability issue - it was just a side effect. Our battery is simply
safer due to its structure. We meet another demand of fast
charge/discharge. With more and more powerful laptops, batteries are
quickly discharged. And people are not going to wait a long time to
recharge them, they want it done fast. So at the same time as
recharging faster, the way the battery is built works against
flammability danger, making it safer as well."

The new "nano-battery technology" was developed by teams at the
university over three years. It is made up of a number of tiny
batteries positioned in such a way as to provide a large amount of
electrical power without the risk of overheating. "We have thousands of
miniature batteries which are interconnected," Nathan said. "The basic
unit is a 50 micron diameter battery - about the thickness of a strand
of hair. In comparison, the diameter of a triple A battery is about
three millimeters - ours is.0.03 mm - about a factor of a thousand."

The nano-batteries have also proven to operate without a loss of
capacity or stability after hundreds of charge/discharge cycles.

Nathan estimates that the batteries will enter the market within four
years. The project is currently seeking interested companies to fund
the continued research and production of the technology.

On 28 Aug 2006 08:38:17 -0700, last_post@rogers.com wrote:

>Tel Aviv U. Scientists Developing Ultimate Batteries
>By Arutz Sheva Staff
>
>| Just as Apple, Dell, and Sony are recalling
>| hazardous laptop batteries ...
>
>Scientists at Tel Aviv University have developed
>new technology to greatly improve battery
>performance and decrease the risks associated
>with the lithium-based batteries currently used.
>
>Batteries are the bottle-neck for electronic devices' ability to
>operate effectively, the project's head, Professor Menachem Nathan told
>Israel21c.org. Mobile devices need more and more battery power, and
>consumers are seeking products that take the shortest amount of time to
>charge.
>
>The demand has resulted in lithium-heavy batteries that heat to high
>temperatures, posing a fire hazard. "The problem we're dealing with
>here is the flammability of lithium batteries. There have been a few
>dozen cases - especially in laptops - of them bursting into flames,"
>Nathan said. "It's not really a new problem, it's existed since lithium
>batteries came into being, but it's only come to the forefront when
>Dell made the recall - it became a bit more public.
>
>"The development of our technology wasn't actually geared to solve the
>flammability issue - it was just a side effect. Our battery is simply
>safer due to its structure. We meet another demand of fast
>charge/discharge. With more and more powerful laptops, batteries are
>quickly discharged. And people are not going to wait a long time to
>recharge them, they want it done fast. So at the same time as
>recharging faster, the way the battery is built works against
>flammability danger, making it safer as well."
>
>The new "nano-battery technology" was developed by teams at the
>university over three years. It is made up of a number of tiny
>batteries positioned in such a way as to provide a large amount of
>electrical power without the risk of overheating. "We have thousands of
>miniature batteries which are interconnected," Nathan said. "The basic
>unit is a 50 micron diameter battery - about the thickness of a strand
>of hair. In comparison, the diameter of a triple A battery is about
>three millimeters - ours is.0.03 mm - about a factor of a thousand."
>
>The nano-batteries have also proven to operate without a loss of
>capacity or stability after hundreds of charge/discharge cycles.
>
>Nathan estimates that the batteries will enter the market within four
>years. The project is currently seeking interested companies to fund
>the continued research and production of the technology.

The big prob with conventional lithiums isn't their
ability to DELIVER power ... it's their ability to
be CHARGED quickly. Fast-charging creates a LOT of
heat - which damages the internal components and
increases the chance of a sudden dramatic failure.

Unfortunately, consumers want FAST recharging - they
hate to wait. If lithiums are to be used in hybrid
or pure electric cars everyone will try to charge
them even faster.

Small-pore super-capacitors can be charged much more
quickly than lithiums ... but a cubic foot of them
can't hold nearly as much total energy as a cubic
foot of lithiums and isn't likely to anytime soon.

The only real competitors for lithiums are fuel
cells and flywheels. Indeed, flywheels of modern
design may be THE answer for vehicular applications,
safer and more eco-friendly than lithiums and cheaper
than fuel cells. Now fuel-cells for laptops ... they
sounded like a good idea until it was suddenly
verboten to bring liquids onto an airplane ...

Sounds as if the Israelis have gone around the heating
issue by improving heat dissipation. The smaller the
diameter of the cell, the less inside there is relative
to the outside - and that will improve heat dissipation.
The heat is still created - that's an inevitible byproduct
of the chemistry and internal resistance - but if you
can get the heat OUT quickly then it won't cause damage.

Japan asks Apple to explain laptop fire

Japanese authorities reported today the first case in Japan of an Apple
laptop catching fire and ordered the US company to investigate the
trouble involving the faulty Sony batteries and report back within a
week.

A laptop made by Apple Computer Inc. overheated and caught fire in
April, and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.

The user sustained minor burns after the computer caught fire,
according to Apple spokeswoman Michiko Matsumoto, confirming the case.

Last week, the Cupertino, California-based company told its customers
to return 1.8 million batteries worldwide that could cause their
laptops to overheat and catch fire - just ten days after Dell Inc.
recalled 4.1 million faulty laptop batteries for the same reason.

It was the largest recall involving electronics in the history of the
US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

In both cases, the problematic lithium-ion batteries were made by Sony
Energy Devices Corp., a Japan-based subsidiary of Sony Corp.

Apple has received nine reports in the United States of the lithium-ion
batteries battery packs overheating, including two consumers who
received minor burns after handling overheated computers. Apple has
also received reports of minor property damage, but no serious injuries
have been reported.

Japan's trade ministry ordered Apple's Japan branch to report on its
findings and measures to prevent future troubles by Sept. 5 or it could
face a fine of up to 300,000 yen ($A3,400) under Japan's consumer
safety laws.

Sony and Dell also have been ordered to report on their findings after
the recall was announced by the ministry.

Last week, ministry officials reported that batteries in Dell laptops
imported to Japan caught fire in at least two separate instances in
October and June. No one was injured in those incidents, but the fires
destroyed the machines.

Battery packs contain cells of rolled up metal strips. Sony has said
that during production, crimping the rolls left tiny shards of metal
loose in the cells, and some of those shards can cause batteries to
short-circuit, or in extreme cases, catch fire.

Apple's Matsumoto declined to say the number of batteries the recall
involves in Japan and how many have been recalled.

The trade ministry has also instructed other Japanese electronic makers
to check the safety of their laptop batteries.

Dell has already recalled batteries from affected models in Japan.
Batteries powering Sony's Vaio laptops don't have the same problems,
according to the Tokyo-based manufacturer.

On 29 Aug 2006 22:20:17 -0700, leonard78sp@gmail.com wrote:

>Japan asks Apple to explain laptop fire
(SNIP)
>Japan's trade ministry ordered Apple's Japan branch to report on its
>findings and measures to prevent future troubles by Sept. 5 or it could
>face a fine of up to 300,000 yen ($A3,400) under Japan's consumer
>safety laws.

Wow, what an astronomical fine. That'll really have Apple trembling in their
boots. <sigh>