• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Leaky Hydrogen May Be Responsible For Your Cell Phone’s Declining Battery Life

October 5, 2024 by Deborah Bloomfield

Rechargeable batteries power much of our electronic age. But while they are reusable, they have a finite lifespan. A new study has identified why. 

Advertisement

Our laptops, tablets, and cell phones are reliant on recharging batteries. Inside a lithium-ion battery, two electrodes store lithium ions; a positively charged anode and negatively charged cathode. An electrolyte inside the battery allows ions to move from the anode to the cathode. This movement starts a chemical chain that leads to the release of charge-building electrons. 

But new research from a team at Stanford University suggests that along with the lithium ions, unwanted passengers move to the cathode. Hydrogen protons and electrons also break off from molecules in the electrolyte. These build up at the cathode, meaning that the lithium ions are unable to conduct charge as efficiently. The power these batteries stores erodes over time. 

This steady seep of hydrogen is driven by a set of chemical reactions. Gang Wan, a physicist and chemist at Stanford University, told Science News, “Even if you’re not using the battery, it loses energy.”

Hydrogen is a tiny, ever-present element that is hard to track. To uncover the role it played in powered-down batteries, Wan and his team had to replace the hydrogen with an XXL variant. This is deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen that holds one neutron and one proton, compared to hydrogen’s lone proton. 

Using the analysis technique mass spectrometry and X-ray imaging, Wan’s team monitored the deuterium as it moved around inside the battery. This showed that hydrogen was the driving force in declining battery charge. 

Advertisement

Importantly, the study opens a way to improve batteries by targeting the unwanted chemical changes that produce these leaky hydrogen molecules. But it may also prompt some soul-searching for battery designers. Wan’s research suggests that in the race for more powerful batteries, engineers may be enhancing the likelihood of cathodes yanking in loose hydrogen and slashing battery life. 

More research will need to be conducted on different battery types to determine how universal the issue is. 

If multiple batteries are subject to the law of leaky hydrogen, it could lead to improved batteries that last longer. Advances in battery life would not only mean that we have to replace our gadgets less, but that the environmental impact of mining battery-powering elements is reduced. 

The study was published in Science. 

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Two UK tech figures plan to row the Atlantic for charity supporting minority entrepreneurs
  2. Microsoft now more focused on ‘killing Zoom’ than Slack, says Stewart Butterfield
  3. Taiwan central bank says currency stable, flags more modest intervention
  4. Satellite Launched Last Year Becomes One Of The Brightest Things In The Sky

Source Link: Leaky Hydrogen May Be Responsible For Your Cell Phone’s Declining Battery Life

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Martian Mudstone Has Features That Might Be Biosignatures, New Brain Implant Can Decode Your Internal Monologue, And Much More This Week
  • Crocodiles Weren’t All Blood-Thirsty Killers, Some Evolved To Be Plant-Eating Vegetarians
  • Stratospheric Warming Event May Be Unfolding In The Southern Polar Vortex, Shaking Up Global Weather Systems
  • 15 Years Ago, Bees In Brooklyn Appeared Red After Snacking Where They Shouldn’t
  • Carnian Pluvial Event: It Rained For 2 Million Years — And It Changed Planet Earth Forever
  • There’s Volcanic Unrest At The Campi Flegrei Caldera – Here’s What We Know
  • The “Rumpelstiltskin Effect”: When Just Getting A Diagnosis Is Enough To Start The Healing
  • In 1962, A Boy Found A Radioactive Capsule And Brought It Inside His House — With Tragic Results
  • This Cute Creature Has One Of The Largest Genomes Of Any Mammal, With 114 Chromosomes
  • Little Air And Dramatic Evolutionary Changes Await Future Humans On Mars
  • “Black Hole Stars” Might Solve Unexplained JWST Discovery
  • Pretty In Purple: Why Do Some Otters Have Purple Teeth And Bones? It’s All Down To Their Spiky Diets
  • The World’s Largest Carnivoran Is A 3,600-Kilogram Giant That Weighs More Than Your Car
  • Devastating “Rogue Waves” Finally Have An Explanation
  • Meet The “Masked Seducer”, A Unique Bat With A Never-Before-Seen Courtship Display
  • Alaska’s Salmon River Is Turning Orange – And It’s A Stark Warning
  • Meet The Heaviest Jelly In The Seas, Weighing Over Twice As Much As A Grand Piano
  • For The First Time, We’ve Found Evidence Climate Change Is Attracting Invasive Species To Canadian Arctic
  • What Are Microfiber Cloths, And How Do They Clean So Well?
  • Stowaway Rat That Hopped On A Flight From Miami Was A “Wake-Up Call” For Global Health
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version