As batteries go through repeated charge-and-discharge cycles, their electrodes expand and contract—and the physical damage that causes leads to gradual battery degradation. Now, a team of researchers from MIT has a new kind of nanoparticle that may ease the problem.
The new advance is a nanoparticle, with a solid shell and a kind of “yolk” inside, that can be used as the electrode. It’s the yolk inside that can expand and contract, without affecting the size of the shell—which means that the macroscopic physical structure of the electrode doesn’t undergo the same stresses as usual. The nanoparticles use an aluminum yolk surrounded by a titanium dioxide shell.
via Gizmodo
