Researchers from IIT Guwahati have developed a technique to improve the performance of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which power most of the portable devices used today.
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The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was jointly awarded to Stanley Whittingham, John Goodenough and Akira Yoshino for work that led to the development of lithium-ion batteries.
These batteries are used in most mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, laptops and power banks, among other devices.
Today, most Electrical Vehicles (EV) use Li-ion batteries as well, but are slowly reaching their theoretical limits of being able to provide roughly up to 300-watt hour per kilogram of energy.
These batteries can also be used to store solar and wind power, which means that with their widespread use it may even be possible to live in a fuel free society.
Some of the disadvantages of Li-ion batteries include their susceptibility to overheating and their being prone to damage at high voltages since they are made with flammable and combustible materials. Such batteries also start losing their capacity over time — for instance, a laptop battery in use for a few years does not function as well as a new one.
