Carbon Nanotubes Could Be Secret to Greater EV Range

A device using the nanotube electrode as the positive electrode and lithium titanium oxide as a negative electrode had a gravimetric energy ~5 times higher than conventional electrochemical capacitors and power delivery ~10 times higher than conventional lithium-ion batteries.

Scientists at MIT have developed a positive electrode made of carbon nanotubes that significantly boosts lithium ion battery performance and could lead to much greater range in electric vehicles and longer battery lives for gadgets.

The carbon nanotube electrodes enable lithium ion batteries to deliver ten times more power than a conventional battery and store five times more energy than a conventional ultracapacitor.  The nanotubes accomplish this because they have a very high surface area for storing and reacting with lithium, which increases the battery's storage capacity and the speed at which it can charge and discharge.

The MIT scientists have already licensed the technology to a battery company (as yet, unnamed) and are perfecting quick methods of making the electrodes, like spraying the nanotubes on a substrate, to facilitate mass production.

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