94-year old Lithium-Ion battery inventor unveils new ultra-efficient glass battery

By Kelly Hodgkins March 31, 2017

glass battery technology green car reports john goodenough — Green Car Reports

John B. Goodenough, an emeritus professor at the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas, Austin, pioneered the lithium-ion battery technology that is now the industry standard, and now the 94-year-old is ready to push the envelope on battery innovation again. Goodenough along with senior research fellow Maria Helena Braga, lead a team of researchers who have developed a low-cost all-solid-state battery that is safer and more efficient than existing lithium-ion technology.

The new battery uses a sodium- or lithium-coated glass electrolyte that has triple the storage capacity of a lithium ion battery. It also charges in minutes instead of hours and operates in both frigid and hot weather (from -20 to 60 degrees centigrade). Early tests suggest the battery is capable of at least 1,200 charge-discharge cycles, significantly more charging cycles than a comparable lithium-ion battery, and best of all, the glass-based electrolyte will not form the dendrites that plague lithium-ion battery technology. The dendrites accumulate as part of the standard charging and recharging cycle and eventually cause a short circuit that often results in a smoldering or burning battery.

1 of 3

glass battery technology john goodenough — John B. Goodenough, a 94-year-old professor at the University of Texas at Austin, is widely credited for the identification and development of the Li-ion rechargeable battery -- which he began developing when he was 57 Image used with permission by copyright holder

glass battery technology goodenough3 — In 2009, Goodenough was a co-recipient of the Enrico Fermi Award, which honors scientists of international stature for their lifetime achievement in the development, use, or production of energy Image used with permission by copyright holder

glass battery technology goodenough1 — When asked about development of his new glass battery, Goodenough said "development is going to be with the battery manufacturers. I don’t want to do development. I don’t want to be going into business. I’m 94. I don’t need the money.” Image used with permission by copyright holder

Goodenough believes this battery technology could be the breakthrough that brings the electric car into the mainstream. “Cost, safety, energy density, rates of charge and discharge and cycle life are critical for battery-driven cars to be more widely adopted. We believe our discovery solves many of the problems that are inherent in today’s batteries,” Goodenough said in a statement published by the University of Texas as Austin. This same battery technology could also be used to store energy in both solar and wind-power systems.

Goodenough and his team have succeeded in developing the glass-based anode, and are now working on the cathode portion of the battery technology. Currently, the team is troubleshooting the cathode issue with encouraging results in small-scale tests using jelly-roll cells. The goal is to produce large-scale cells eventually and then move the technology over to manufacturers who will develop it commercially.

Topics

Contributor

Kelly's been writing online for ten years, working at Gizmodo, TUAW, and BGR among others. Living near the White Mountains of…

Deals

The Apollo wearable is proven to help you sleep better (and it’s on sale)

Apollo wearable worn during sleep in bed.

This content was produced in partnership with Apollo Neuro.
Stress, anxiety, and insomnia are all concerning things that just about everyone struggles with at one time or another. Maybe you can sleep, fending off insomnia, but you lack quality sleep and don’t feel rested in the morning. Or, maybe when it’s time to kick back and relax, you just can’t find a way to do so. There are many solutions for these issues, some work, and others don’t, but one unlikely area of support can be found in a modern, smart wearable.

Medicine is the obvious choice, but not everyone prefers to go that route. There is an answer in modern technology or rather a modern wearable device. One such device is the Apollo wearable, which improves sleep and stress relief via touch therapy. According to Apollo Neuro, the company behind the device, which is worn on your ankle, wrist or clipped to your clothing, it sends out waves of vibrations to help your body relax and reduce feelings of stress. It's an interesting new approach to a common problem that has typically been resolved via medicine, therapy, or other more invasive and time-consuming techniques. The way it utilizes those vibrations, uniquely placed and administered, to create a sense of peace, makes us ask, can it really cure what ails us? We’ll dig a little deeper into how it achieves what it does and what methods it’s using to make you feel better.

Space

What comes after Webb? NASA’s next-generation planet-hunting telescope

An illustration shows how NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory would measure the atmosphere of distant planets.

When it comes to building enormous, complex space telescopes, agencies like NASA have to plan far in advance. Even though the James Webb Space Telescope only launched recently, astronomers are already busy thinking about what will come after Webb — and they've got ambitious plans.

The big plan for the next decades of astronomy research is to find habitable planets, and maybe even to search for signs of life beyond Earth. That's the lofty goal of the Habitable Worlds Observatory, a space telescope currently in the planning phase that is aimed at discovering 25 Earth-like planets around sun-like stars.

Deals

3DMakerpro’s Seal is a pocket-sized scanner to make next-gen precision 3D prints

3DMakerpro Seal in hand lifestyle image.

This content was produced in partnership with 3DMakerpro.
3D printing truly is amazing, because you can create virtually anything, as long as you have the blueprints or digital 3D models. But while there is an excellent community behind the creation of these 3D models, and always new items, gadgets, and tools to print, you can be somewhat limited in the sense that you can't just take an item and print it without a little bit of extra work. If you don't have the skills to create a digital design -- or digital copy of an object -- you'll have to wait for the community to put something together, and it may not always match what you're wanting to create. What if there was something so much easier than that, however? What if there was a tool or device that could create remarkably accurate scans of an object and then translate that into a digital format -- one you can reprint in a 3D printer? There is, from 3DMakerpro, and it's called the Seal -- or Seal Lite in the alternative model.

Promising the "ease of scan" and combined with the "art of detail," the 3DMakerpro Seal and Seal Lite will effectively scan an item or object with supreme detail and accuracy -- a superior accuracy of 0.01mm, which is a first in the consumer-grade 3D scanner industry. It supports full color and whole texture capture in high-definition, thanks to a 24-bit high-quality color CMOS image sensor and texture camera. For you, it means that your model scans will truly come to life, including all nuanced details from material textures to fine elements. A scan of a toy dragon, for example, will feature all scales, colors, and fine details.