Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Battery Goo: Innovative Electric Cell


A sample of Cambridge Crude
(photo courtesy of Dominick Reuter).

With oil reserves slowly being depleted, the industrialized world is forced to turn to alternative sources of energy. Many pioneers have taken the steps to completely eliminate oil dependency, prominent being many international corporations. The automobile industry, being the one of the worst sources of carbon emissions, has begun to commercialize electric and hybrid cars in recent years. Unfortunately, having a cutting-edge fully-electric vehicle presents drawbacks, such as lengthy charge times or inefficient compromises like a battery swap. Readily available gasoline is often far more attractive to less proactive drivers; electricity can't be "pumped" into a car with near the speed of gasoline (nor into a purely electric car). However, MIT researchers may have come close to solving this problem with a battery goo that can be pumped just like gasoline.

"Cambridge crude," as the black sludge is called, is comprised of two different types of goo; each holds charged particles suspended in a semi-liquid electrolyte (similar in the way that quicksand is comprised of sand particles and water). One goo is the anode goo; the other is the cathode goo. The two are separated by membrane that isolates each goo, but allows the charge to travel from one goo to the other. If you remember your high-school chemistry class, then you should know that the moving charge generates a current that powers the vehicle.

While this newest innovation doesn't sound very different from a conventional battery, there's one terribly clever bit that could potentially render present technology obsolete. Once the charge has been completely used, all that is necessary is to make a stop at the nearest goo station. There, the old goo will be sucked out to be replaced by new, charged goo much in the same way gasoline is pumped. If that sounds wasteful, the goo still retains the function of a rechargeable electric cell, so that a charge overnight in the garage will render the goo fully charged and ready to go. So it's like having all the advantages of being able to pump gas, with the added advantage of being able to fill up at home as well.

The alternative power source has an additional bonus: the goo batteries are cheaper to build than conventional lithium-ion batteries, and they're not dependent on any particular goo chemistry. When a more advanced goo is created, it can readily replace the old goo. DARPA bestowed a grant upon the MIT team to make this all happen, and by 2013, they should have a reduced-scale system operational and serving as a prototype replacement for electric car batteries.

New Battery Design Could Give Electric Vehicles A Jolt | MIT News

12 comments:

  1. Wow, the energy companies would be smart to pay attention to this stuff.

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  2. This is really cleaver, I always pictured charging a battery with plug in a wall, but this makes you think.

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  3. 2013 for prototype, any idea when it will be available?

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  4. I'd hazard a guess that within the next generation, this technology will be about as widespread as ordinary hybrid and electric cars. Hopefully.

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  5. This is so cool! I would have NEVER though of that! Great!

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  6. This sounds great :] I had always been attached to the idea of battery exchanges but this is even more efficient !

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  7. Very cool, thanks for the info

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  8. how clever. maybe it'll get bigger in the near future

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  9. The only reason I wouldn't get an electric car is for that very reason... if I'm driving 1000 miles, I'm not gonna wait 5-6 hours for it to charge when I can just spend 10 minutes at the gas station and be on the road again in no time.

    This changes that whole dynamic!

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