Deakin makes battery breakthrough

DEAKIN researchers have been rewarded for a decade of hard work and innovation, creating a lithium metal battery prototype that is safer and more effective than batteries now on the market.

Their recently created prototype was their first using ionic liquid electrolytes.

Deakin’s Battery Technology Research and Innovation Hub director Patrick Howlett said there were considerable benefits in using these materials.

“Ionic liquids are non-volatile and resistant to catching fire, meaning that unlike the electrolytes currently used in lithium-ion cells used by, for example, Samsung and Tesla, they won’t explode.

“Not only that, but they actually perform better when they heat up, so there’s no need for expensive and cumbersome cooling systems to stop the batteries from overheating.”

These batteries will provide potentially superior alternatives to lithium-ion batteries, which are commonly found in portable electronics and electric vehicles.

Deakin researchers predict the batteries could have up to 50 per cent longer run-time.

Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM) research fellow Dr Robert Kerr said the findings could significantly affect how batteries were made in the future.

“After years of painstaking attention to manufacturing processes and details, the team has achieved a benchmark level that’s sure to make everyone in the industry sit up and take notice.

“This is an important milestone in the battery world for the demonstration of a new technology.”