University of Surrey and University of Bristol to develop battery alternatives

By Sophie Chapman
Two UK universities have partnered with Superdielectrics, the engineering and research firm, on a project to develop lithium-ion battery alte...

Two UK universities have partnered with Superdielectrics, the engineering and research firm, on a project to develop lithium-ion battery alternatives.

The new project follows the results the Universities of Surrey and Bristol found when testing novel polymer materials.

The findings on the materials with dielectric properties between 1,000 and 10,000 times larger than electrolytes have been converted into ‘device’ scale demonstrations.

The two educational establishments and the engineering firm have announced they will be researching, developing, and testing supercapacitators.

From the results Superdielectrics, the developer of the technology, aims to create a researche and production centre to enable further technological advances.

SEE ALSO:

The supercapacitator battery alternative is more time-efficient as it uses electrodes and electrolytes, which charge faster.

Opposed to lithium-ion batteries, supercapacitators can charge and recharge for a significant amount of cycles whilst remaining speedier than traditional cells.

However, so far supercapacitators cannot compete with conventional batteries in regards to storage, as they can only hold approximately one-twentieth of what a lithium-ion cell can.

China has adapted the modern technology for its buses but has found they require recharging at almost every stop.

The institutions will be testing single layer cells charged with 1.5 volts to power small devices, and three-cell stacks that can be rapidly charged to power an LED.

The University of Bristol will also work on another project, creating a parallel cell structure allowing capacitance and voltage operations to separately be controlled.

Share

Featured Articles

Reducing Scope 3 emissions with Jeff Dewing, Cloudfm CEO

Jeff Dewing, CEO of Cloudfm & Mindsett, shares what net zero goals businesses need to be aware of & how they can take control of their Scope 3 emissions

Accrol Group’s Oceans on paper manufacturing & supply chains

Vandita Vaidya, Technical Manager at Accrol Group’s paper manufacturer Oceans, discusses gender diversity in manufacturing & how she educates stakeholders

Revive manufacturing with Industry 4.0, says Baserow CRO

Olivier Maes, Co-Founder & CRO of technology company Baserow, shares how the manufacturing sector can transform itself with robotics & Industry 4.0

Deloitte: smart manufacturing is driving automotive’s future

Smart Manufacturing

Manufacturing Digital news roundup: lean supply chains

Smart Manufacturing

How smart manufacturing can alter safety standards

Smart Manufacturing