Stanford chemistry professor Hongjie Dai and his team made their breakthrough when they accidentally discovered that graphite would be the best material for the cathode.
“We have developed a rechargeable aluminum battery that may replace existing storage devices, such as alkaline batteries, which are bad for the environment, and lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames,” Dai said in a university statement.
The Stanford team said there are numerous benefits with the aluminum-ion battery, including short very short charging times down to one minute.
Stanford’s aluminum-ion reportedly is far more durable than today’s laptop and cellphone batteries. The scientists said their battery can withstand 7,500 charge cycles, much more than the 1,000 charge cycles of a typical lithium-ion battery.
Researchers said they still need to improve the voltage of the aluminum-ion battery and further study is needed.
The team’s research has been published in Monday’s edition of the journal Nature.