[The Vector] Nano Engineering Delivers Mega Battery

Researchers at MIT are developing a lithium-ion battery with a positive electrode made of carbon nanotubes that delivers 10 times more power than a conventional battery and can store five times more energy than a conventional ultracapacitor.

The nanotube battery technology is licensed to an undisclosed battery company. It could extend the range of electric vehicles and electronic gadgets.

The high surface area and high conductivity of carbon nanotubes promise improvements in both energy and power density.

The MIT researchers led by chemical engineering professor Paula Hammond and mechanical engineering professor Yang Shao-Horn, showed in their article published in the Journal Nature Nanotechnology that the development of methods for careful structural control at the nanoscale leads to major improvements in materials performance. According to Nicholas Kotov, professor of chemical engineering at the University of Michigan, we are just at the beginning of the major improvement of lithium batteries using a materials engineering approach.