[HN Gopher] Silanano launches the first new commercial battery c...
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Silanano launches the first new commercial battery chemistry since
1991
Author : spullara
Score : 30 points
Date : 2021-09-08 20:00 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (silanano.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (silanano.com)
| [deleted]
| sabujp wrote:
| you can find articles from several years ago that discuss using
| silicon anodes :
| https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Aieee.org+silicon+anod...
| koeng wrote:
| For anyone interested in what the tech is (very hard to find on
| their website) here is a quote from a techcrunch article
| https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/04/battery-tech-startup-sila-...
|
| "Sila Nanotechnologies has developed a drop-in silicon-based
| anode that replaces graphite in lithium-ion batteries without
| requiring changes to the manufacturing process. The company
| claims that its materials can improve the energy density of
| batteries by 20% and has the potential to reach 40% improvement
| over traditional li-ion."
| akozak wrote:
| Is that consistent with their claim that it's a fundamentally
| new chemistry?
| toast0 wrote:
| It's hard to say really. Nickel-cadmium refer to the
| electrodes, but lithium ion refers to the electrolyte, and
| lead-acid refers to both the lead electrodes and the acid
| electrolyte. Switching out the electrode may qualify as a new
| chemistry, although 'fundamentally new' might be a stretch.
| reportingsjr wrote:
| There has been a lot of research in to replacing the anode in
| lithium ion batteries with materials other than graphite.
| Some have been successful, but only to limited levels.
|
| A pure silicon anode would be a huge step up in energy
| storage, but there are a ton of issues that need solving down
| this path.
|
| Tesla has slowly been working towards integrating more and
| more silicon in to their anodes. They announced plans to try
| and do effectively what SilaNano is doing here at their
| "battery day" last year, so it is a pretty big deal that they
| are pulling it off in a production battery.
| Animats wrote:
| No. If they had a real breakthrough, they wouldn't be selling
| it in a fitness wristband.
|
| There are many "solid state battery" companies. Solid Power,
| QuantumScape, Ampicera, ProLogium. Toyota. ProLogium seems to
| be the only one actually shipping a battery, but the
| technology seems to be getting close to working. The next
| generation of batteries should not have the thermal
| runaway/catches fire if damaged problem.
| reportingsjr wrote:
| I don't think this is a valid argument against this being a
| real breakthrough. The first major production lithium ion
| batteries were for Sony camcorders.
|
| Not all that different from wearables, and obviously
| lithium ion batteries were a pretty major breakthrough.
| Jetrel wrote:
| Indeed. All breakthrough techs initially suck. They're a
| shitty, borderline-useless, but FUNCTIONAL breakthrough.
| And that's really the thing - they might be a joke, but
| if they do work, and if they're just barely usable for
| some niche product (specifically in some new space that
| other solutions were not really viable for), then the
| giant deathball of applied corporate R&D starts rolling
| on them.
|
| SSDs are probably the absolute bellweather of this, since
| their early forms held mere kilobytes. They were uniquely
| useful because they were non-volatile, and immune(-ish)
| to the kinds of shaking disruptions that befoul magnetic
| media (usually via head crashes).
|
| The thing about these things is the corporate R&D
| deathball. Once it gets rolling, they can breed a mouse
| to be the size of an elephant. The more profound/insight-
| driven challenge lies in getting that initial mouse, and
| getting that initial foothold of a market opportunity.
|
| --
|
| Batteries of course were another great example. The
| reason we have viable electric cars, instead of trashy
| ones with a 20-mile range, is entirely thanks to the
| consumer electronics industry (broadly including power
| tools, etc). They needed batteries and paid for the R&D.
| Fast forward 25 years, and "the best we can do" jumped
| from a 20-mile range, to a 250-mile range.
| rasz wrote:
| Camcorders sipped amps, wristband seeps microamps up to
| single digit milliamps.
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