Batteries

Engineers have created a thin battery, made of a few million carefully constructed "microbatteries" in a square inch. Each microbattery is shaped like a very tall, round room, providing much surface area - like wall space - on which nano-thin battery layers are assembled.

Most of today's batteries are made up of rare lithium mined from the mountains of South America. If the world depletes this source, then battery production could stagnate. Sodium is a very cheap and earth-abundant alternative to using lithium-ion batteries that is also known to turn purple and combust if exposed to water - even just water in the air.

A sapphire-colored dye called methylene blue is a common ingredient in wastewater from textile mills. But scientists think it may be possible to give this industrial pollutant a second life. In a new study, they show that the dye, when dissolved in water, is good at storing and releasing energy on cue.

New Zealand's first grid-scale battery storage facility was launched in Auckland. Tesla's Powerpack battery is part of an ambitious project to test the direct integration of battery energy storage with New Zealand's electricity grid.

Lithium-ion batteries commonly used in consumer electronics are notorious for bursting into flame when damaged or improperly packaged. Inspired by the weird behavior of some liquids that solidify on impact, researchers have developed a practical and inexpensive way to help prevent these fires.

In remote areas of the world or in regions with limited resources, everyday items like electrical outlets and batteries are luxuries. Health care workers in these areas often lack electricity to power diagnostic devices, and commercial batteries may be unavailable or too expensive. New power sources are needed that are low-cost and portable.

Rolls-Royce is launching a lithium-ion based energy storage system for ships. The gain for the ship owners is a clean, safe and cost-efficient complete system.

A new type of energy storage system could revolutionise energy storage and drop the charging time of electric cars from hours to seconds.

Professor's idea to adapt 20th century mining technology to recycle lithium ion batteries, from the small ones in cell phones to the multi-kilowatt models that power electric cars, the same technologies used to separate metal from ore could be applied to spent batteries.

Nissan Motor Co. Ltd announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with Envision Group for the sale of Nissan's electric battery operations and production facilities to Envision.