Harvard Researchers Create Solid-State Battery That Charges In Just 10 Minutes

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Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a trick solid-state battery that can be recharged in 10 minutes while having the ability to be charged and discharged more than 6,000 times, perfect for EVs of the future.

The solid-state battery developed by Harvard researchers uses a lithium metal anode as opposed to a graphite anode. These new anodes are said to have ten times the capacity of commercial graphite anodes and use micron-sized silicon particles to stop dendrites forming on the anode. These dendrites are tiny projections of metal that can build on the surface of an anode and create an uneven surface, Electrek notes.

Prototype batteries the size of a postage stamp have already been developed by Harvard. It says the battery was able to retain 80% of its capacity after 6,000 cycles, far outperforming traditional pouch cell batteries.

Read: Toyota’s First Solid-State Battery EV With 750-Mile Range Coming In A Couple Of Years

“Lithium metal anode batteries are considered the holy grail of batteries because they have ten times the capacity of commercial graphite anodes and could drastically increase the driving distance of electric vehicles,” SEAS associate professor of Materials Science Xin Li said in the research paper. “Our research is an important step toward more practical solid-state batteries for industrial and commercial applications.”

The Harvard Office of Technology Development has licensed its technology to Adden Energy cofounded by Li and three other Harvard alumni.

Solid-state batteries are considered by many to be the next frontier for electric vehicles. Toyota is among the car manufacturers working on these advanced new batteries and recently said it will be selling electric vehicles with solid-state batteries in a “couple of years.” These batteries will offer recharge times of around 10 minutes and a range of up to 750 miles (1,200 km).