One of the most common rationality that batteries explode and arrest ardour — like onBoeing ’s 787 Dreamliner — is because over clip small conductive nerve pathway rise inside the barrage fire ’s interior social system that eventually cause it to short-change out with fateful results . But Nicholas Kotov , a professor at the University of Michigan , and Siu On Tung , a PhD scholarly person , may have come up with a result to the problem using bulletproof kevlar nanofibers .
halt bullets obviously is n’t the main reason for using Kevlar to build a battery , but it turns out the properties that allow the stuff to stop missile can also help prevent the beginning cause of barrage fervor .
Lithium - ion batteries give current by devolve lithium ions between layers of electrode , but through very specific tour paths . To forbid those lithium ions from simply jump directly between electrodes , an isolate membrane is place in - between each one . However , over time lithium atoms can arrange themselves into fern - similar structures called dendrites , and as they farm big they eventually poke through that isolate membrane until they make striking with a neighboring electrode make a short electric circuit . And as Boeing experienced with some of its 787s , that poor circuit can extend to full - on fires .
And this is where Kevlar comes to the rescue . The researchers at the University of Michigan layered nanofibers extracted from Kevlar on top of each other to create very thin insulating sheet of paper . And it sour out the microscopic pore on this fresh material are really far too small to allow the tips of those fern - like dendrite structure to poke through and make middleman with other electrodes . Individual atomic number 3 - ions can still squeeze through as needed , but nothing else .
Kevlar is also a grotesque electric insulator , and has astonishing estrus - tolerant properties making it specially ideal for use in battery that can often run live . Furthermore , the new insulating material develop at the University of Michigan is so thin it will actually allow more electrodes to be packed into a similarly - sized battery , increasing its vigour output . So when it survive into production sometime in 2016 it might not only mean smartphones that will never cryptically explode , but maybe even super - thin smartphones that will in reality last through an entire day of use . [ University of Michigan ]
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