
Lithium-air battery research shows potential paths to next-gen batteries - superfx
http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/10/lithium-air-battery-research-shows-potential-paths-to-next-gen-batteries/
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mtgx
> But a commercially viable Li-air battery is still “at least a decade away."

Eh. Why even bother talking about it then? (especially in the context that
we've seen _tens_ of these announcements in the past decade).

What all of these "breakthroughs" talk about is that they managed to "double
the density for the same cost" or whatever, for only a pin-size battery.
Anything scaled beyond that and it starts losing its advantages. That's why we
hear about so many battery breakthroughs only to never hear about most of them
again. Because when they start getting close to actually making a battery
_product_ for the market, they realize it's actually not very competitive at
all.

So wake me up when they can make at least a 2,000 mAh smartphone battery
that's ready to be commercialized within a year (basically they'd just need to
find a customer and start mass production).

Until then it's all fairy tales.

~~~
hewhowhineth
Well at least it's not the Q4 2016 :)
[https://xkcd.com/678/](https://xkcd.com/678/)

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ju-st
> In a press release (PDF), the University of Cambridge scientists admitted
> that a commercially viable lithium-air battery was still “at least a decade
> away,” but their research showed that some of the big roadblocks to
> developing such batteries can be tackled.

~~~
Coincoin
Sounds like one of those tech articles that pop every year about that "new"
discovery that will be usable in a "decade" for ever and ever.

~~~
stephengillie
Ten years: We haven't finished inventing it yet, but when we do, it'll be
awesome!

[https://xkcd.com/678/](https://xkcd.com/678/)

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superfx
Link to the Science paper abstract (full paper is paywalled):
[http://www.sciencemag.org/content/350/6260/530.abstract](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/350/6260/530.abstract)

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ck2
I distinctly remember reading about lithium-air last year and then the year
before that.

All that research success yet no production samples.

ah, they even linked to the article I read in 2012:

[http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/06/lithium-air-
battery-a...](http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/06/lithium-air-battery-
advance-could-be-jaw-dropping-improvement-over-li-ion/)

~~~
mavdi
Battery research news is on par with cancer cure and rapture day news these
days.

~~~
Gravityloss
Cancer treatments have advanced hugely, I'm told.

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mrfusion
Does this mean your phone would have an air intake? Would it get heavier as it
binds with the O2?

~~~
pcl
When this was discussed a few years ago, I believe the conclusion was that
yes, the battery would gain weight as it depleted in energy.

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JoeAltmaier
Cynicism aside, I wouldn't bet against lithium-air. It will be a game-changer.

~~~
ChuckMcM
But will it beat Fusion power to market? :-)

In a more serious tone, there are lots of positive changes like this which are
inexorably working their way into production. And I agree with you it will be
pretty interesting when your phone lasts for a week or more, with heavy use,
on a single charge.

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kup0
How many times in the past few years have we heard about "new battery
technology" that was coming soon and would revolutionize the industry? Too
many, and none of them ever seem to come to fruition.

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bradlys
Almost anytime that a technology is said to be a decade away or more from the
researcher, you may as well take it to mean that it will never happen.

~~~
elchief
So I'll be bald for a while then...

