An advanced manufacturing approach for lithium-ion batteries, developed by researchers at MIT and at a spinoff company called 24M, promises to significantly slash the cost of the most rechargeable batteries while also improving their performance and making them easier to recycle. This so-called "semisolid battery" is a hybrid between flow batteries and conventional solid ones with following advantages.
This new battery greatly simplifies manufacturing by keeping the electrode material in a liquid state which requires no drying stage. By reducing the number of distinct layers and nonfunctional material in the structure with electrodes of tiny suspended particles, it will cost less. Meanwhile, this new battery can be bent, folded or even penetrated by bullets without failing, improving both safety and durability. Compared with traditional Li-ion production, factories using the method can be scaled up by simply adding identical units. By 2020, researcher estimates that manufacturers will be able to produce batteries for less than $100 per kilowatt-hour of capacity.

Tags :   lithium-ion batteries    semisolid battery