Ultrafast aluminium battery can charge phone in a minute

Scientists in California have invented a bendable aluminium-ion battery that can charge a smartphone in 60 seconds.

Researchers at Stanford University say the "ultrafast rechargeable aluminium-ion battery" provides a more environmentally friendly alternative to disposable alkaline batteries and is a safer alternative to lithium-ion batteries, which "occasionally burst into flames".

The new battery will not catch fire, even if you drill through it, they say. It can also deliver two volts of electricity, higher than anyone has achieved with aluminium and more than the 1.5 volt AA and AAA batteries, which are sold in their hundreds of millions each year in the UK alone.

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"Researchers have been experimenting with aluminium batteries for decades, but have never found the perfect combination of materials to produce enough voltage via a cell that lasts for thousands of cycles of charging and discharging," says James Temperton at Wired.

But this "potentially-revolutionary" battery could soon be powering popular gadgets, from smartphones to remote controls and toys, he says.

The researchers described their findings, published in the journal Nature, as a "major breakthrough", although noted that the battery can currently only produce half the voltage needed to power a smartphone.

"Otherwise, our battery has everything else you'd dream that a battery should have: inexpensive electrodes, good safety, high-speed charging, flexibility and long cycle life. I see this as a new battery in its early days. It's quite exciting," said Hongjie Dai, a professor of chemistry at Stanford.

He believes that improvements to the cathode material could increase the voltage.

The aluminium battery could also be used to store renewable energy on the electrical grid, as it has a long cycle-life that can rapidly store and release energy, said Dai. "Our latest unpublished data suggest that an aluminium battery can be recharged tens of thousands of times."