Using seaweed extracts to improve battery performance
An extract from brown algae could give rechargeable lithium-ion
batteries a boost by allowing silicon nanopowder to be used as a
high-capacity alternative to graphite electrodes.
Lithium-ion
batteries are ubiquitous in portable gadgets, such as laptops and mobile
phones because they are relatively lightweight and recharge rapidly.
However, energy-storage capacity and cycle-life are limited. As such,
researchers have experimented with alternatives to graphite, such as
silicon, for the anode, as their capacity could be an order of magnitude
higher.
