Of course you still remember the explosion incident Samsung
Galaxy Note 7 years ago caused by a defective battery and sleek design, thus
forcing Samsung to pull the entire Galaxy Note 7 from circulation. Not wanting
the same incident to happen again, Samsung has implemented various quality
tests on batteries to ensure overall safety.
Some companies are also researching on new technologies that
can prevent the risk of exploding batteries. Recently a team of researchers
from the University of Maryland worked on water-based batteries and has
published their research in the journal Joule.
Currently most smartphones use lithium-ion batteries, where
they contain electrolytes that aid in ion movement between electrodes. However,
because these electrolytes are made from organic chemicals, they can burn in
some conditions. While waterproof-based electrolytes are already present, but
they are not very strong because water is not very reactive in nature.
Researchers have found lithium-ion batteries that use water
to replace organic chemicals. In addition, this battery is also fairly strong
as a substitute for chemicals and excess water material will not explode.
Electrodes on this new battery contain a layer that will not be damaged when in
contact with a water-based electrolyte. In fact, these newly developed
batteries work better than existing water-based batteries.
Unfortunately, there is still one major problem in this new
battery type, where the battery can only function about 70 cycles. While the
batteries needed for smartphones should have a longer endurance, around 500
cycles. So, the researchers have to fix this problem so that this new type of
battery can be used for everyday devices.