Iodine may protect batteries
Researchers at MIT and Carnegie Mellon University are studying a new kind of electrolyte for “self-healing” lithium battery cells, which will be formed by adding a halide element such as iodine, under a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The work could lead to longer driving range, lower cost electric vehicle batteries. MIT’s Kyocera Professor of Materials Science and Engineering Yet-Ming Chiang and Carnegie Mellon University assistant professor of mechanical engineering Venkat Viswanathan received first-year funding of $456,742 through Sept. 30. The project has the potential to receive up to $1.25 million over three years. “One of the most promising pathways to higher energy density vehicle batteries is to use metal electrodes such as lithium. However, to do so requires that we solve a problem first recognized 40 years ago. Even though lithium metal has been widely used in disposable batteries, it has not been possible to use them...