Smartphones are generally the best device one could own except the battery doesn’t last enough; luckily Sony will build new long lasting batteries.
Why batteries die
A smartphone has many great features that allow you to do anything from browsing the internet and sending e-mails or texts to watching videos, playing games or socializing on Facebook. But all of these features need a very good display for a better user experience as well as internet connection. And these two things are the ones which eat up the most of your battery energy.
Batteries today are made of lithium-ion and this combination is very close to the limit when it comes to energy density. Although the size of the battery can be increased as it happened with smartphones getting bigger, the actual battery cannot be improved or made to give more energy. Besides, in time, lithium-ion batteries tend to lose their properties and only give you energy for less and less time until you have to charge it every few hours.
Since we obviously can’t try to constantly increase the size of the battery with every new powerful phone that’s launched, as we’ll end up taking tablets to our ears for phone calls, the solution would be to try and change the chemistry of the battery.
The replacements
Sony is planning on doing that and it is presently testing lithium-sulfur and magnesium-sulfur batteries. These chemistry combinations are expected to have a better energy density. In this way, they will provide more energy which comes confined in a smaller object. Sony hopes to start commercializing a laminated type of battery in 2020.
The process is taking so long because developing a new battery chemistry has proven to be very difficult outside of a laboratory and alternatives are not very stable. For example, the lithium sulfur batteries are likely to heat up and even burn.
This isn’t the first time something comes up with the idea of changing the lithium-ion batteries, but most ideas, implemented or not, came from universities or startups. Coming from an experienced technology company like Sony, gives us the hope that we will indeed have better batteries in 2020, which will last, as they say 40% more. In the end, the goal is to be able to use and enjoy your smartphone without having to constantly worry about your battery dying.
Image source: www.bing.com
