Battery breakthrough promises up to 30 percent higher capacity

A British company claims to have developed a technology that can increase the capacity of a Lithium-ion battery by up to 30 percent, The Register reports. Called Nexeon, the company is a spin-off from London's Imperial College.

The principal idea behind the breakthrough consists of using a silicon anode instead of conventional carbon anode, which has ten times the charge density over the latter. Patented microstructures make it possible to use silicon, which would otherwise become physically unstable with repeated charging.

Nexeon's engineering director, Ian McDonald, elaborated on the significance of its breakthrough, "At the moment people are scratching about to get two to three percent improvements in battery performance. So to get a 25-to-30 percent improvement is a great step forward."

Of course, it will probably be another two to three years before products containing the new anode hit the market. Still, higher power densities for my laptop and various gadgets is something that I do not mind waiting for.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at The Register

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