Since battery development progresses gradually and over long periods of time, most of the battery life gains we experience with new smartphones are minor and gradual. However, when we compare a contemporary iPhone to an iPhone from seven years ago, the advances – new battery technology – in battery life and charging speeds become much more apparent.
Put simply, battery research is something of a slog, but researchers are still putting in countless hours in order to unearth new breakthroughs. To that point, a report has come from the Independent that a team of researchers from the University of Cambridge recently developed a new technology for lithium-ion batteries — the same ones used to power smartphones — that could potentially charge devices in as fast as five minutes.
One of the issues with fast-charging a lithium-ion battery is that it can overheat or explode if the charging becomes too aggressive. What the Cambridge researchers did, as a result, was figure out a way to determine in real-time the extent to which the battery cells can receive a charge. In turn, charging can be ramped up to an appropriate limit without destroying the battery itself.
The method, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, allows researchers to identify the “speed limits” for charging cycles within batteries and then figure out ways to maximize their potential.
“We found that there are different speed limits for lithium-ion batteries, depending on whether it’s charging or discharging,” said Dr Ashkay Rao from Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory, who led the research.
“When charging, the speed depends on how fast the lithium ions can pass through the particles of active material. When discharging, the speed depends on how fast the ions are inserted at the edges. If we can control these two mechanisms, it would enable lithium-ion batteries to charge much faster.” He added.
The research is more of a look at what the next generation of battery technology may bring to the table. Still, it’s encouraging to see that we’re still not anywhere close to hitting a ceiling when it comes to technological innovation.
However, great progress has already been made in the evolution of batteries and the accompanying charging systems. You may have super fast charging for both wired and wireless systems. Infinix recently introduced its flagship concept smartphone for 2021 with 160W fast cable charging and 50W fast wireless charging. The new system from Cambridge scientists is faster than Infinix, which can charge a completely dead 4000mAh battery in 10 minutes.
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