Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Black gold holds a charge for green cars

From the New Scientist here, new invention may double the charge in a battery:

"In a standard battery, ions shuttle from one solid electrode to the other through a liquid or powder electrolyte. This in turhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifn forces electrons to flow in an external wire linking the electrodes, creating a current. In Chiang's battery, the electrodes take the form of tiny particles of a lithium compound mixed with liquid electrolyte to make a slurry. The battery uses two streams of slurry, one positively charged and the other negatively charged. Both are pumped across aluminium and copper current collectors with a permeable membrane in between. As they flow the streams exchange lithium ions across the membrane, causing a current to flow externally. To recharge the battery, you apply a voltage to push the ions back across the membrane."

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