The lithium-ion batteries that power our laptops and electric vehicles could store more energy and run longer on a single charge with the help of a sponge-like silicon material. Researchers developed the porous material to replace the graphite traditionally used in one of the battery’s electrodes, as silicon has more than 10 times the energy storage capacity of graphite. A paper describing the material’s performance as a lithium-ion battery electrode was published today in Nature Communications. PNNL researchers have developed a porous, sponge-like nanomaterial made of silicon that could help lithium-ion batteries run longer on a single charge by giving the batteries’ electrodes the space they need to expand without breaking. “Silicon has long been sought as a way to improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries, but silicon swells so much when it is charged that it can break apart, making a silicon electrode inoperable,” saidPacific Northwest National Laboratory Fellow Ji-Guang “Jason” Zhang. “The porous, sponge-like material we’ve developed gives silicon the room it needs to expand without breaking.” Room for improvement Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries have two electrodes: one that’s positively charged and made of lithium and another that’s negative and typically consists of graphite. Electricity is generated when electrons flow through
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