The team, led by professor Gao Chao, from Department of Polymer Science and Engineering of Zhejiang University, designed a battery using graphene films as anode and metallic aluminum as cathode.<\/p>\n
The battery could work well after quarter-million cycles and can be fully charged in seconds.<\/p>\n
Experiments show that the battery retains 91 percent of its original capacity after 250,000 recharges, surpassing all the previous batteries in terms of cycle life.<\/p>\n
In quick charge mode, the battery can be fully charged in 1.1 seconds, according to Gao. The finding was detailed in a paper recently published in Science Advances.<\/p>\n
The assembled battery also works well in temperatures range of minus 40 to 120 degrees Celsius. It can be folded, and does not explode when exposed to fire.<\/p>\n
However, the aluminum-ion battery cannot compete with commonly-used Li-ion batteries in terms of energy density, or the amount of power you can store in a battery in relation to the size, according to Gao.<\/p>\n
“It is still costly to make such battery. Commercial production of the battery can only be possible until we can find cheaper electrolyte,” Gao said.<\/p>\n