NEWS LI-ION BATTERIES
Material discovery
A NEW HYBRID MATERIAL IMPROVES THE PERFORMANCE
OF SILICON IN LI-ION BATTERIES. NEIL TYLER REPORTS
Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland have announced that they have developed a new
hybrid material of mesoporous silicon microparticles and carbon nanotubes that can improve the
performance of silicon in Li-ion batteries.
Using silicon in the anode will make it possible to double the capacity of the total battery cell.
However, silicon is facing severe challenges in battery technology due to its unstable material
properties and, currently, there is no technology available that can produce feasible anodes solely
from silicon.
To minimise the reducing effect of high charging rates on the capacity of silicon anodes,
researchers have developed a hybrid material of mesoporous silicon (PSi) microparticles and carbon
nanotubes (CNTs). According to the Finnish team, the hybrid material is realised through chemical
conjugation of PSi and CNTs with the right polarity so as to not hinder the diffusion of lithium ions
into silicon. With the right type of conjugation, they also found that the electrical conductivity and
mechanical durability of the material was improved.
The PSi microparticles used in the hybrid material were produced from barley husk ash to
minimise the carbon footprint of the anode material and to support its sustainability. Silicon was
produced through a simple magnesiothermic reduction process applied to the phytoliths that are
amorphous porous silica structures found in abundance in husk ash.
The researchers are now aiming to produce a full silicon anode with a solid electrolyte to address
the challenges related to the safety of LIBs and to the unstable solid electrolyte interface (SEI).
“Hopefully, the EU will invest in the basic research of batteries to pave the wave for high
performance batteries and to support the competitiveness of Europe in this eld. The Battery 2030+
roadmap would be essential in supporting this progress,” said Professor Vesa-Pekka Lehto from the
University of Eastern Finland.
Zigbee and DiiA
collaboration
The Zigbee Alliance and the Digital Illumination
Interface Alliance (DiiA), the global industry
organisation for DALI lighting control, are to
work together to bring standardisation and
system interoperability to the IoT luminaires
space.
The two organisations are to collaborate in
developing a gateway speci cation to support
a forthcoming certi cation program. “Our
liaison agreement with the Zigbee Alliance is
part of DiiA’s commitment to address different
options for combining wireless communication
links with DALI lighting control,” said Paul
Drosihn, DiiA General Manager. “Developing
speci cations and testing requirements for
gateways between Zigbee ecosystems and
wired DALI networks will ensure interoperability
that’s backed by certi cation.”
“The intersection of wired and wireless is
where industry can work better together during
this IoT transition to bene t those invested in
both technology camps as well as consumers
as they embrace connected devices,” said
Tobin Richardson, President and CEO, Zigbee
Alliance.
Editor Neil Tyler
neil.tyler@markallengroup.com
Deputy Editor Elliot Mulley-Goodbarne
Elliot.Mulley-Goodbarne@
markallengroup.com
Contributing Chris Edwards, Charlotte Hathway,
Editors John Walko
editor@newelectronics.co.uk
Art Editor Andrew Ganassin
andrew.ganassin@markallengroup.com
Illustrator Phil Holmes
Sales Manager James Creber
james.creber@markallengroup.com
Publisher Peter Ring
peter.ring@markallengroup.com
Managing Jon Benson
Director jon.benson@markallengroup.com
Production Nicki McKenna
Manager nicki.mckenna@markallengroup.com
New Electronics editorial advisory panel
Trevor Cross, chief technology offi cer, Teledyne e2v
Pete Leonard, electronics design manager, Renishaw
Pete Lomas, director of engineering, Norcott Technologies
Neil Riddiford, principal electronics engineer, Cambridge
Consultants
Adam Taylor, embedded systems consultant
ISSN 0047-9624 Online ISSN 2049-2316
Annual subscription (22 issues):
UK £108. Overseas; £163. Airmail; £199.
New Electronics, incorporating Electronic Equipment News
and Electronics News, is published twice monthly by
MA Business, Hawley Mill, Hawley Road, Dartford, DA2 7TJ.
T: 01322 221144 E: ne@markallengroup.com
Moving on?
If you change jobs or your company moves, please contact
circulation@markallengroup.com to continue receiving
your free copy of New Electronics
www.markallengroup.com
© 2020. All rights reserved. No part of New Electronics may
be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the Publisher.The views expressed do not
necessarily represent those of the editor of New Electronics.
Advertisements in the journal do not imply endorsement of the
products or services advertised.
Please read our privacy policy, by visiting
http://privacypolicy.markallengroup.com. This will explain
how we process, use & safeguard your data
Printed by Pensord.
Plextek and DM target
life sciences
Plextek Services and Design Momentum
(DM) have established a partnership to
develop scienti c instruments and laboratory
equipment for life sciences.
The partnership brings together Plextek’s
expertise in electronic design and development
at its ISO13485-certi ed labs with Design
Momentum’s experience in delivering
innovative life science technology design.
The COVID-19 crisis is showing the need
for rapid development of critical technology
to support the life science industry. The
partnership brings together in-depth skills
and experience in product inception, as
well as industrial design, development and
manufacture, and will allow clients to harness
the latest technologies and speed up time-tomarket
in this period of rapid change.
“The Plextek-DM partnership offers a
powerful combination of skills and experience
in the laboratory equipment sector to
provide a one-stop opportunity for life
science companies and builds on our two
organisations’ previous collaborations,” said
Nick Hill, Plextek’s CEO.
6 28 April 2020 www.newelectronics.co.uk
/markallengroup.com
/www.markallengroup.com
/privacypolicy.markallengroup.com
/www.newelectronics.co.uk
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link