Researchers Create First Nonflammable Lithium-ion Battery

ExtremeTech reported that researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have built a lithium-ion battery that is not flammable. Flammability is a major flaw for such batteries.

As quoted in the market news:

The University of North Carolina’s breakthrough is to replace the electrolyte’s flammable organic solvent with nonflammable perfluoropolyether (PFPE). PFPE is usually used as an industrial lubricant, and the lead researcher — Joseph DeSimone — had originally been looking at using PFPE on the bottom of ships to prevent marine life from sticking, which is a serious problem in the world of shipping. He realized that PFPE had a similar structure to another solvent used in LIBs, so he did what any sensible chemist would do: tried dissolving a lithium salt in PFPE to see what would happen. As luck would have it, it worked just fine. He created a nonflammable lithium-ion battery.

Click here to read the full ExtremeTech report.