Since the invention of the computer chip in the mid-20th century, technology has been advancing at a breakneck pace, a process we can illustrate with Moore's Law. Every two years, the number of transistors in a chip doubles, and other technologies also advance, ultimately causing processor performance to double every 18 months. More than 40 years have passed since Moore's Law was defined, and it remains unbroken. A generation has created astonishing progress in the field of electronics, and Moore's Law perfectly encapsulates this progress; driven by Moore's Law, smartphones have entered the pockets of hundreds of millions of people, thousands of times more powerful than the best computers of decades ago.
Looking at the batteries used in these devices, their development is completely out of sync with Moore's Law. Sony pioneered the commercialization of lithium-ion batteries in 1991, and the technology hasn't changed significantly to this day. The technology used in automobiles is even older; the basic design of internal combustion engines and lead-acid batteries used in vehicles has remained largely unchanged for decades.
Throughout design history, companies have often lacked the desire to change, the industry has thrived, and we've rarely considered batteries. Back in 2000, a single charge could last for days. However, in the last decade, we've entered the smartphone era, and battery life has become a serious issue. Apple's latest phones are 16 times more powerful than the iPhone launched by Steve Jobs nine years ago, yet their battery life still falls short of a day.
The significant performance difference between new and old iPhones is primarily due to engineering advancements, achieved through improved processor efficiency, rather than better batteries. As for mAh (the current generated during a full discharge over a given time), the iPhone 6s only saw a 22% improvement over the first-generation iPhone in 2007.
Lithium Battery Challenge
Designing a lithium battery is simple. When the battery is charging, electrons flow through the circuit to the negative electrode, attracting lithium ions (chargeable particles) from the electrolyte solution. When we use the battery, the ions move through the solution to the negative electrode, releasing an electric current to charge the device.
This is a fairly basic chemical process, which makes it difficult to improve. Only a few elements can be used, and lithium has proven to be the most suitable. To improve batteries, the way is to change the chemical composition of the electrodes and electrolyte, but improvements are gradual and become increasingly difficult over time. Despite wealthy technology companies continuously investing capital in batteries, battery performance only improves by about 5% annually. In fact, many battery manufacturers have found that the best way to improve battery efficiency is to increase its size, giving it more space to accommodate more ions.
For many, this approach is clearly insufficient. Smartphones, initially just an important part of daily life, have become a basic necessity. We use them to pay money, communicate, and navigate. If our phones stop working, we feel frustrated. And that's not all; the consequences are far more severe when electric vehicles and life-saving medical equipment run out of power. Solar energy is projected to be the primary energy source of the future, and without the sun, batteries will need substantial storage capacity.
Alternative products
As people become increasingly reliant on batteries, driven by demand, companies are investing significant time and money in developing lithium-ion battery alternatives.
Last year, scientists at Cambridge University announced a major breakthrough, developing a lithium-air battery. They claimed the new battery is 10 times more powerful than existing lithium-ion batteries. The new technology uses some electrons directly from oxygen in the air, instead of electrons stored at one end of the battery. They claim this could significantly improve battery performance, allowing an electric car to travel from London to Edinburgh on a single charge.
Cambridge scientists call this lithium-air battery the ultimate battery. While the design itself has existed for decades, traditional lithium peroxide designs have proven unstable and unsuitable for multiple recharge cycles. Replacing lithium hydroxide with a new chemical composition reduces the number of energy-consuming chemical reactions, allowing the battery to be recharged more than 2000 times.
Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois announced a breakthrough last week, developing a lithium superoxide battery. This new technology addresses many key challenges of other lithium-air batteries. The new design is still several years away from commercialization, potentially at least 10 years.
Another approach that might work is to find better ways to provide energy, rather than developing better batteries. The British company Intelligent Energy claims that hydrogen fuel cells could be used in consumer electronics in the near future.
Henri Winand, CEO of IntelligentEnergy, said that a prototype battery developed using the new technology could power a smartphone for a week and allow a drone to fly for hours instead of 30 minutes. It doesn't require charging, and the fuel cells are internally interchangeable. The company is also collaborating with Suzuki to develop fuel cell-powered scooters and with an emerging smartphone manufacturer to develop products using fuel cells. "We won't have to plan our lives according to electricity anymore," Winand said. He added that fuel cell phones would be available in 18 months.
For consumers and businesses reliant on batteries, this pace is still not fast enough; fuel cells may take many years to become mainstream. Meanwhile, some technology companies are still investing in lithium-ion battery technology, believing it to be the best option in the short term.
Globally, many companies use batteries on a large scale, with Tesla being one of them, having invested nearly $5 billion to build a lithium-ion battery factory in Nevada, USA. Other consumer electronics companies are refusing to rely on breakthrough technologies, instead focusing on wireless charging or fast charging technologies that can charge a battery from 0% to 60% in just half an hour or an hour.
Even the most promising new batteries are unlikely to replace lithium batteries anytime soon. They require years of testing and legal approval before they can be used in cars and mobile phones. Regardless of who wins the competition, their battery will be one of the world's biggest breakthroughs.
