SHENZHEN, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing China Hi-Tech Fair (CHTF) has seen Chinese scientists unveiling a newly-developed battery that can work in extreme cold and heat.
This lithium battery can work in a minimum temperature as low as minus 70 degrees Celsius and can also function in heat up to a maximum of 80 degrees Celsius, according to its designer Jiang Chunlei, who is from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Jiang's group designed a new aluminum-based composite anode material, and multiple electrolytes used in different scenarios, which is able to significantly expand the operating temperature range of the battery.
The battery's energy density is 13 to 25 percent higher than that of traditional lithium-ion batteries, which allows it to achieve longer battery life.
In addition, it has shown excellent fast-charging performance and can be fully charged in 20 minutes. Its cost is between 10 and 30 percent lower than batteries using expensive nanoscale cathode materials.
The battery has been tested in a demonstration project of distributed energy storage in northeast China, said Jiang.
This battery is also expected to solve the problem of reduced battery life for electric vehicles in cold winter weather, according to the SIAT.
The five-day CHTF kicked off on Wednesday in south China's tech hub of Shenzhen. The annual event, launched in 1999, is the largest and most influential science and technology fair in China. ■
