Batteries that last longer thanks to Blandi Blub

Batteries that last longer thanks to Blandi Blub

A group of scientists uses silicon dioxide to make the batteries last up to three times longer between charge and charge

   Through the use of surgical tubes and that viscous toy putty - known in Spain as Blandi Blub and in the United States as Silly Putty - a group of researchers from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of California Riverside has developed a new way of doing that lithium-ion batteries last up to three times longer between charges, compared to what the industry currently produces.

The team created silicon dioxide nanotubes that were made of anodes (negative battery electrodes) in the lithium-ion batteries and found that they had more than three times the energy storage capacity when using, as currently, anodes based in carbon. This has important implications for industries such as electronics or electric vehicles, which are always trying to squeeze more and more batteries.

   "We are using the same material used in children's toys, as well as medical devices and food, to create the next-generation battery materials," said Zachary Favors, lead author of a recently published article on research in the field. Nature Scientific Reports magazine.

Abundant and non-toxic

The team originally focused on silicon dioxide because it is an extremely abundant compound in the environment, non-toxic, and found in many other products. Previously, this material was already tried as an anode

Silicon dioxide has previously been used as an anode in lithium ion batteries, but its ability to synthesize the material into uniform nanostructures, with high energy density and a long life cycle, has been limited so far.

A key finding was that silicon dioxide nanotubes are very stable in batteries, which is important because it means a longer life. In particular, these anodes of SiO2 nanotubes were subjected to 100 cycles without losing an apex of their energy storage capacity; the authors are very sure that they could be subjected to hundreds of more cycles.

Now, UCR researchers will focus on developing methods to increase the production of SiO2 nanotubes, with the hope that they can become a commercially viable product.