TTU researcher works to power you up
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (Dec. 23, 2005) — Dead batteries for the gadgets
and toys under the tree can short-circuit Christmas joy, but a Tennessee
Tech University professor at TTU's Center for Manufacturing Research is
working on the latest in battery and fuel cell technology that may change
the way we power everything from smart credit cards to automobiles.
Chunsheng Wang, along with TTU graduate and undergraduate students, is
working on improved power sources that promise to be more efficient, versatile,
powerful and cleaner than what we now enjoy.
"Working to improve the performance of the common battery, we've
tested a new structure of a thin-film, lithium-basted battery, and the
results have been good," says Wang, who arranged a collaboration
with Oak Ridge National Laboratory on a novel all-solid-state micro/nano
battery and supercapacitor architecture. "It has the potential to
power even nano devices and machines.”
Developed by an ORNL group led by researcher Nancy Dudney, the thin film
Li-ion battery has a conventional three-layer structure (anode-electrolyte-cathode)
and exhibits excellent performance characteristics to meet the requirement
for microdevices.
However, if the interfaces between electrodes and electrolytes, which
produce a high overpotential, can be removed to form an interface-free
microbattery, the volume of the ORNL thin film battery can be significantly
reduced without sacrificing its performance. A provisional patent related
to this novel architecture was filed by TTU on April 14.
The thin film battery, which has potential for commercial and national
defense applications, is rechargeable and small. How small? It’s
designed to be thinner than common plastic wrap, or even possible in nanoscale.
Unlike traditional batteries, the thin-film micro-battery is intended
for small, high-technology applications such as smart credit cards, security
cards, wireless sensors, radio frequency identification tags, chip memory
back-up and advanced drug delivery devices.
But Wang isn't just thinking small in his research. His work is also
bringing the zinc-air fuel cell — essentially a big battery —
closer to reality. Zinc-air fuel cells produce electrochemical energy
by using oxygen straight from the air. It is a high-energy, high-power
technology that is safe and environmentally benign.
Industry leaders predict that with these fuel cells, automobiles would
be able to run about 300 to 400 miles before recharging. They require
no special conditions, such as high pressure or extreme cold, for storage
of the fuel. The fuel cells may even be able to use portable rechargers
that can run on household electricity.
Current zinc-air batteries are popular for handheld electronics, including
hearing aids and pagers, because they provide three times the energy of
common alkaline batteries.
Thanks to Wang's instruction and support, TTU's Chem-E Car team recently
won a national competition by competing with a vehicle powered by a zinc-air
fuel cell. Under the professor's direction, students designed and tested
the cell, which was more robust than previous types used in competition.
"It worked out great for the competition because a zinc-air battery
is high in energy and cheap to build, but the durability is not good,"
says Wang. "This is what the students will be working to improve
on and what we as researchers are working to do so that using these fuel
cells in automobiles can be a practical reality."
Seeing students succeed in the classroom and in competition is what Wang
anticipated when he joined the university.
"I came to Tennessee Tech to work with undergraduate students to help them learn what is possible," he says. "I have been able to teach my students what is possible with my research efforts."
--Karen Lykins
This information posted 23 DECEMBER 2005