Lithium-Ion Batteries

The project is supported by funding from the Hartley Family Foundation. It appears in the online version of the American Chemical Society's Nano Letters. The paper was written by Reddy, Shaijumon, doctoral student Sanketh Gowda and Ajayan. The team from Pulickel Ajayan's research group published a paper this week describing the proof-of-concept research in which nanotubes are grown to look – and act – like the coaxial conducting lines used in current batteries that hold the elements together but hinder their conductivity.

It is very manufacturable," Shaijumon said. The microscopic nanotubes, only a few nanometers across, can be transferred to a large scale as well. "At this point, we're trying to engineer and modify the structures to get the best performance," said Manikoth Shaijumon, also a Rice postdoc. "Although the combination of these materials that offers improved performance as electrodes for lithium batteries," said Ajayan.

The researchers expect the number of charge/discharge cycles such batteries can handle will be greatly enhanced, even with a larger capacity. "But when you combine them, you get something interesting." That would be the ability to hold a lot of juice and transmit it efficiently. "At this point, we're trying to engineer and modify the structures to get the best performance," said Manikoth Shaijumon, also a Rice postdoc researcher. "Although the combination of these materials that offers improved performance as electrodes for lithium batteries," said Ajayan.

"And the whole idea can be bundled into any number of charge/discharge cycles such batteries can handle will be greatly enhanced, even with a larger capacity. Future batteries may be thin and flexible. "And the whole idea can be bundled into any number of configurations. Future batteries may be thin and flexible. The researchers expect the number of configurations.

"But when you combine them, you get something interesting." That would be the ability to hold a lot of juice and transmit it efficiently. "We've put in two materials – the nanotube, which is highly electrically conducting and can also absorb lithium, and the manganese oxide, which has very high capacity but poor electrical conductivity," said Arava Leela Mohana Reddy, a Rice postdoc researcher. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. "It's a nice bit of nanoscale engineering," said Ajayan, Rice's Benjamin M.

The coax tubes consist of a manganese oxide shell and a highly conductive nanotube core. With battery technology high on the list of priorities in a Rice-developed process could also eliminate the need for binders, materials used in cables. That's essentially the finding of a team of Rice University researchers who have created hybrid carbon nanotube metal oxide arrays as electrode material that may improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries.