Stanford makes bendable aluminum battery that recharges in one minute

Stanford University researchers created a new type of battery using aluminum. One one hand there are several advantages versus current battery technologies but some hurdles still have to be cleared to make the technology viable.

The promising aspects include safety and high-speed charging, the new battery is bendable and won't catch fire, even if you drill through hit. Another big improvement are very fast charging times, the researchers claim the prototype enables completely recharging in just one minute.

Previous aluminum battery prototypes had poor discharge/charge cycles but Stanford's new attempt can do 7500 recharges without any capacity loss. Performance however isn't up to snuff with li-ion, the aluminum-ion battery can only pump out 2V, versus 3.6V for li-ion, and has an energy density of only 40W per kilogram, far less than the 100-206W offered by li-ion.

Right now, the aluminum-ion cell can only pump out 2V, which is far less than the lithium-ion and its 3.6V. Aluminum cells also only carry 40W of electricity per kilogram, versus lithium-ion which is capable of delivering 100-206W per kilogram. Dai added: "Improving the cathode material could eventually increase the voltage and energy density. Otherwise, our battery has everything else you'd dream that a battery should have: inexpensive electrodes, good safety, high-speed charging, flexibility and long cycle life. I see this as a new battery in its early days. It's quite exciting".