Silicon Nanowires Could Extend Battery Life

Lithium-ion batteries that use silicon nanowires as an anode could produce up to 10 times the runtime from the same size battery.

If Stanford University researchers are on the right track, the holy grail of portable energy may be right around the corner in the form of modified lithium-ion batteries. Assistant Professor Yi Cui believes that integrating silicon nanowires into existing li-ion designs could extend the battery life of packs by a factor of 10.

While the basic mechanics of what the battery does would remain the same, substituting a forest-like sponge of silicon nanowires instead of graphite as the battery’s anode material could result in a massive increase in storage capacity. According to Cnet, silicon nanowires can hold many more lithium ions (and therefore many more times the charge) than graphite.

While engineers have been aware of silicon’s potential for years, the charge-recharge cycle was too hard on the material and consistently caused it to degrade in tests. Cui’s innovation – using a thick net of nanowires – seems to eliminate this effect.

Cui hopes to see the technology commercialized in “several years,” after a handful of mass production issues are sorted out.