better batteries for portable devices

This paper

http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/v3/n1/pdf/nnano.2007.411.pdf

showed up in Technology Review a couple of weeks ago, and now it's on
Ars Technica, and C|Net.

the abstract:  ``There is great interest in developing rechargeable
lithium batteries with higher energy capacity and longer cycle life
for applications in portable electronic devices, electric vehicles and
implantable medical devices. Silicon is an attractive anode material
for lithium batteries because it has a low discharge potential and the
highest known theoretical charge capacity (4,200 mAh). Although this
is more than ten times higher than existing graphite anodes and much
larger than various nitride and oxide materials, silicon anodes have
limited applications5 because silicon's volume changes by 400% upon
insertion and extraction of lithium which results in pulverization and
capacity fading. Here, we show that silicon nanowire battery
electrodes circumvent these issues as they can accommodate large
strain without pulverization, provide good electronic contact and
conduction, and display short lithium insertion distances. We achieved
the theoretical charge capacity for silicon anodes and maintained a
discharge capacity close to 75% of this maximum, with little fading
during cycling.''

TR:  http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/20000/

C|Net:  http://www.news.com/A-tenfold-improvement-in-battery-life

AT:  http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080115-new-silicon-anodes-could-result-in-battery-breakthrough.html

``Cui has filed a patent on the technology and is considering
formation of a company or an agreement with a battery manufacturer. He
expects the battery to be commercialized and available within "several
years," pending testing.''  [Alex Serpo; ZDNet Australia]

The TR article also cites Ohio State chemist Yiying Wu, who's look at
cobalt-oxide nanowires for lithium-ion batteries.  See
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/nalefd/2008/8/i01/html/nl0725906.html.

Bill


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