IBM invents sustainable lithium-ion-beating battery

[HEXUS]

Battery uses materials extracted from seawater and requires no heavy metals.

Read more.

[jnutt]

This sounds promising. Only thing is how long till commercial use.

[Tabbykatze]

Waiting for the news article in 3 months in an obscure backwater magazine that IBM has disappeared. Or the engineer and tech inside IBM will and they'll make statements that the engineers don't exist

[yeeeeman]

Truth is, whoever manages to find a chemistry that overtakes Li-ion cells in the regards shown above and do it 2x at least is a big win.

[Output]

backwater magazine

I see what you did there.

[sig]

another battery revolution? We hae announcements like this few times a year, for long time. I hope this time is real, but every previous "next generation battery" just "disappear".

[HVAC]

another battery revolution? We hae announcements like this few times a year, for long time. I hope this time is real, but every previous "next generation battery" just "disappear".

It is REALLY damn hard to bring new tech to production. Exacerbate this with accountants instead of engineering management running tech companies and you have to make logarithmic leaps rather than incremental.

[bawrash]

Then Thanos clicks his fingers and another new battery technology seizes to exist

[selfishtoaster]

[QUOTE=HVAC;1343126]

It is REALLY damn hard to bring new tech to production. Exacerbate this with accountants instead of engineering management running tech companies and you have to make logarithmic leaps rather than incremental.

At least accounts could produce something people want to buy. Leave it to the engineers and either have something with so few changes that nobody could tell the difference or we'd be waiting 20 years until it was 'just right'.

[ZombieBait]

AFC energy have developed efficient and reliable hydrogen powered cells. Given seawater is the constituent, hopefully IBM have developed a smaller 'battery' cell of similar technology.

[matts-uk]

At least accounts could produce something people want to buy.

Solar roadways...Micro beam wireless charging...737 Max!

AFC energy have developed efficient and reliable hydrogen powered cells. Given seawater is the constituent, hopefully IBM have developed a smaller 'battery' cell of similar technology.

I think it unlikely. Hydrogen is abundant but still relatively expensive to produce and transport. Mitigating the mineral content of sea water (opposed to plain ole water) would make Hydrogen separation even more expensive, as far as I can see.

After Hydrogen and Oxygen, the most abundant elements in seawater are Chloride and Sodium (salt). During the 1980s next gen battery research focussed on both Lithium ion and Sodium ion chemistries. By the mid 90s Lithium had become the Accountants choice causing investors to change their bets and Sodium receded into research lab obscurity. In the last couple years a raft of Sodium ion battery patents have been filed with commercial product, with electrical properties similar or better than Lithium, expected within 5 to 10 years. Other sea water constituent contenders are Chlorine and Potassium. These 'alternate ion' technologies are compatible with existing Lithium ion infrastructures, making them an attractive proposition for manufacturers already heavily invested in Lithium.

I find the lack of detail in the IBM blog disconcerting. One might assume commercial sensitivity but the properties of sea water are very well understood. A truly revolutionary new battery technology appears about as likely as a 'super improved' washing powder. I suspect the Big Blue announcement has more to do with disrupting investment into the field by competitors like Sharp.

[cyberguy]

We see this kind of claim every couple months. However Lithium Ion is still powering out smartphones, laptops and e-Cars. In short, I will believe it when I see it! Show me the money baby!

[albert89]

I thought the same thing too, not another battery revolution.
If the main stream media get hold of this then we'll never
hear the end of this nonsense.