A new approach boosts lithium-ion battery efficiency and puts out fires, too | Center for Automotive Research at Stanford

Scientists at Stanford and SLAC redesigned current conductors – thin metal foils that distribute current to and from electrodes – to make lithium-ion batteries lighter, safer and more efficient. They replaced the all-copper conductor, middle, with a layer of lightweight polymer coated in ultrathin copper (top right), and embedded fire retardant in the polymer layer to quench flames (bottom right). (Yusheng Ye/Stanford University)

Oct 15 2020

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Scientists at Stanford and the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Lab have reengineered the collector, one of the heaviest battery components, so they weigh 80% less and immediately quench any fires that flare up. Using polymers in place of the sheets of copper or aluminum foil made the collector lighter, and increased the energy density of lithium-ion batteries by 16-26%. Reducing battery weight and flammability could also have a big impact on recycling by making the transportation of recycled batteries less expensive.