Aircraft Battery Wait Time: Duration of Awaiting Aircrafts Powered by Batteries
Venturing Beyond Lithium: The Pursuit of Next-Gen Battery Technology
In the realm of power storage, we've hit a sweet spot with Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). They've proven to be the best energy storage devices we've got, storing up to 300 Wh of energy per kilogram, with an impressive lifespan of over a thousand charge cycles. Yet, even with these impressive features, three little words plague us all: 'Battery life.'
Every smartphone and laptop owner can attest to the gradual decrease in battery capacity, and even a brand-new battery doesn't last as long as one would hope. This is especially troubling for aviation, even for drones. When it comes to range and payload, electric power still lags behind good ol' fossil fuels.
There's another issue: fire hazards. LIBs are flammable and can catch fire or even explode in case of a short circuit or extreme heat. And environmentalists have their own concerns, too. LIBs are tricky to recycle, with many hazardous chemicals lurking within. Improper disposal can lead to fires in landfills.
Seeking a Lithium-Free Future
Before we start dreaming about greener pastures, let's see if we can enhance LIBs themselves. Fire-resistant materials can curb flammability, and energy density can increase. In 2023, an experimental model even reached 700 Wh/kg! But there's a limit to how much energy density a battery can pack, and LIBs are getting close.
Lithium-metal batteries seem like the next big thing, offering a higher energy density of 500 Wh/kg. However, they suffer from durability issues, only lasting about 100 charge cycles. Another lithium variation, lithium-air batteries, are incredibly lightweight and promise a staggering theoretical energy density of over 13000 Wh/kg. The issue? Their lifespan is poor, even with air filtration.
Lithium: The Elusive Commodity
Lithium might be expensive and unevenly distributed around the world, but can we really do without it? It's a tall order, given the many demands we place on a battery: high energy density, durability, safety, affordability, and eco-friendliness.
Enter sodium-ion batteries, a cheaper and eco-friendlier alternative to LIBs. Sodium is 50 times cheaper than lithium and can be accessed from common table salt. They currently trail behind LIBs in terms of energy density but may catch up with current LIBs and surpass future LIB models and lithium-metal and lithium-air batteries.
Navigating the Future of Battery Technology
The search for better batteries is far from over. Advances in materials science and chemistry are continually pushing the boundaries of what's possible.
Recently, researchers attempted to streamline the development process, focusing on refining the electrolyte – the component that carries the electrical charge. They developed a neural network that learns to predict the quality of electrolytes based on their composition, potentially speeding up the development of new battery technologies. It's unknown which of these innovations will eventually take the lead, but one thing's for sure: the battery revolution is just getting started.
Sidenote: The author's viewpoint may not be reflected in the editor's notes.
In the race for next-gen battery technology, new alternatives to Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are being explored. One such prospect is sodium-ion batteries, which are 50 times cheaper than lithium and can be derived from common table salt.
As we venture further into the future, the integration of new science and technology could pave the way for the creation of safer, more eco-friendly, and cost-effective battery solutions.
