No safe battery in market for smartphones: Expert

Tirupati: Samsung has recently stopped the sales of its new Galaxy Note 7 series from the market due to the reports of battery explosions and the company has said it is a battery cell problem.

“Generally, no safer battery is available for accessories including mobile phones. For most of the systems flammable electrolytes are being used,” said professor Noriyoshi Matsumi from School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology on the sidelines of the Indian Science Congress here.
His team has come up with the organoboron electrolytes for enhanced performance of energy and sensing devices and he presented the details about his recent studies. “In our study, we are replacing the flammable material with non-flammable material. Maybe technologically it’s possible. But, commercially, many companies prefer ordinary electrolytes because of low cost,” he said.

Lithium batteries are widely used because of their high energy density namely their ability to store a lot of energy in a lightweight, compact form. But they have the tendency to cause the explosion.

“I hope my research would improve the performance of Lithium batteries. Main reason for the accidents is the use of the flammable electrolytes. The commercially available ordinary electrolytes’ combination is flammable,” he added. Further, he said, “Now, many companies are trying electrolytes for even higher potentials. A new generation of electrolytes may give the inflammable batteries.”