Crystals are considered valuable to many, including those who use them in their wellness practices. It turns out they aren't just good for wellness. A team of Chinese and American chemists, engineers, and material scientists found that particular crystals speed up charging in lithium-ion batteries.
According to Tech Xplore, lithium-ion battery makers have been trying to find a way to make charging quicker, specifically in electric vehicle batteries. Niobium tungsten oxide (NbWO) crystals could be the answer.
They used electron microscopy, which uses electrons instead of light to magnify something, to examine how the charge moved through the crystals. The scientists discovered they had a "major impact on charging speeds," per Tech Xplore.
The team then used machine learning to test 84,000 possibilities and found that the rGO/Nb₁₆W₅O₅₅ crystals were the best suited.
"Testing of the material showed that when charged at 80°C (or 176 Fahrenheit), the material allowed for charging at a rate of 116 milliamp-hours per grain in just 45 seconds," Tech Xplore reported.
That is believed to be 68.5% of the market's lithium-ion battery limit. It's also faster than the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium benchmark.
Tech Xplore said the team built a prototype that "could hold 77% of the initial capacity after 500 charging cycles."
The team's study was published in the Nature Communications journal.
This crystal could be a game-changer for the EV industry. According to the U.S. News & World Report, charging times vary significantly from model to model. Charging your vehicle can take between 15 minutes and 40 hours — longer charging times can be frustrating when you need to get somewhere.
It can also deter people from switching to an EV when filling up a gas-powered vehicle takes five minutes or less. Even the benefits of saving $1,500 a year on gas and maintenance may not seem too enticing to wait that long for your vehicle to charge.
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Cost 💰 The adoption of EVs is also crucial for reducing polluting gases. A study in San Francisco showcases how much EVs can help decrease toxic gases. A UC Berkeley professor placed 57 sensors in the area, tracked data between 2018 and 2022, and found that carbon dioxide levels were reduced by 1.8% yearly.
That may not seem like much, but imagine how much that number will grow as more people switch to electric vehicles.
The prototype is not ready for commercialization, and it's unclear when it will be. According to Tech Xplore, the team said there is a lot of work to do, including "solving the problem of electrode thickness mismatches with commercial specifications."
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