Cheaper, Lighter, Stronger – But When?

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

We’d all love to see the battery that’s lighter, stronger, charges like a capacitor and costs next to nothing.  We’d all be driving electric cars and those of us who wanted battery-powered airplanes would be designing the next new wave of flight. Usually, these things are a decade or more away, following excruciating intervals of study, commercialization and usually, much-delayed or postponed production. Dr. Chongwu Zhou, a professor at the University of Southern California’s (USC’s) Viterbi School of Engineering, claims to have such a battery under provisional patent, and potentially available commercially within “two or three years,” according to school press releases. The battery uses porous silicon nanoparticles to replace traditional graphite anodes and provide superior performance – three times as much energy as a graphite-based lithium battery and capable of being recharged within only 10 minutes. Zhou says, “It’s an exciting research. It opens the door for the design of the next generation lithium-ion batteries.” Zhou worked with USC graduate …