< img src = "/uploads/blogs/1f/6c/ib-free6dhm_999ea2a6b.jpg" Alt = "Accumulators will work for years due to very cheap material: what they came up with"/> ~ ~ ~ ~ > < P > Researchers at Washington University found a way to use corn protein to improve lithium-grained battery performance.
< p > About this & nbsp; writes & nbsp; edition interestingenGineering.com.
< p >Lithium-grained batteries are both lighter and more resistant than lithium-ionic. However, commercial use is still limited due to problems with the service life. Corn protein can help overcome these problems.
< P > Researchers found that a protective barrier made of corn protein in combination with plastic has significantly improved the performance of lithium-grained batteries in size with a button. Corn -based separator helped the battery to store a charge for 500 cycles, which is a noticeable improvement compared to the battery without barrier.
< p >Lithium-grained batteries are considered to be the best alternative to lithium-ion because of their small size, light weight and the ability to keep much more energy. Moreover, such batteries use sulfur as a cathode, which is not only cheap and non -toxic, but also affordable. On the other hand, the lithium-ion battery cathode is made of metal oxides and contains toxic heavy metals such as cobalt or nickel.
< P > However, lithium-grassy batteries have their own set of restrictions. One of the main problems, the effect of the shuttle, occurs when the sulfur part of the battery seeps into the liquid and moves to the lithium side, which leads to breakage. In addition, on the lithium side of the battery often form spikes, dendrites that can lead to short circuits.
< p > to solve these problems, scientists used corn protein as a protective coating for a separator placed in the middle of the battery.
< P > Protein Blocks & mdash; These are amino acids that respond to the battery materials to enhance the movement of lithium ions and help suppress the shuttle effect. Since protein naturally coagulates by itself, the researchers added a small amount of flexible plastic to make it flat, which improved its productivity and stability.
< P > Scientists focus on further studies to understand how can we optimize the protein structure for even greater productivity.
< p > “Protein & mdash; this is a very complex structure. It is necessary to carry out additional studies using modeling to determine which amino acids in the protein structure can best work to solve problems of critical shuttle effect and dendrites”, & mdash; The researchers commented.