Priority Electronics Blog

In the past two years the world has seen several laptop computer manufacturers recall millions of batteries. The biggest recall occurred with Sony made batteries, which affected companies such as Dell, Toshiba, Apple, and several more. The recalls came after consumers reported fires caused by defective laptop batteries.

Since the recalls companies that specialize in the battery industry have been working on prototypes that will make them safer. The biggest challenge in creating a safer battery is finding a stable polymer that still conducts the lithium ions.

Researchers at the Frauhofer Institute for Silicate Research (ISC) in Germany have found a stable polymer. In a recent statement released on their company website, the ISC leader Dr. Kai-Christian Moller said “We have succeeded in replacing the inflammable organic electrolytes with a non-flammable polymer that retains its shape.This considerably enhances the safety of lithium-ion batteries. What’s more, because it is a solid substance, the electrolyte cannot leak out of the battery.”

In the same statement Moller also said, “Normally, the more solid a polymer is, the less conductive it becomes. But we had numerous parameters that we could adjust - for example, we can use coupling elements with two, three or four arms. As a result, we have more possibilities with Ormocer®s than with a single type of plastic.”

Currently the ISC has a prototype battery made. Although the prototype has been created it is far from being mainstreamed into cell phones, PDA’s, laptops, cordless screwdrivers, etc. This stage is just one breakthrough. The ISC hopes to have this new battery in electronic devices in 3 to 5 years.

It will take several years for production because the ISC has come across one challenge; creating a battery that will store the amount of energy that current batteries store. Once they create a larger storage capacity these batteries could revolutionize more then the laptop battery industry. They could be used for lawnmowers and cars. This new discovery could make battery fire hazard a thing of the past.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 29th, 2008 at 11:36 am and is filed under Laptop Battery News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.