Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a new material for environmentally friendly batteries that can be used to power electric cars. This is reported by the scientific journal ACS Central Science.
The new lithium-ion battery contains an organic-based cathode instead of cobalt and nickel. It conducts electricity at the same rate as cobalt-based batteries, but it can be produced at a much lower cost. At the same time, the device has comparable capacity and can be charged faster than its counterparts.
The material consists of multiple layers of TAQ (bis-tetraaminobenzoquinone), a small organic molecule with three hexagonal rings containing amino groups and quinone groups. The former help the compound form strong hydrogen bonds that make the material stable and insoluble, while the latter are a reservoir of electrons. Experiments show that TAQ can withstand more than 2,000 charge cycles with minimal degradation.
