Safer phone batteries possible

TIRUPATI: Samsung recently stopped the sales of Galaxy Note 7 series after the reports of battery explosions. The company blamed batteries for the problem. “Generally, no safer battery is available for accessories including mobile phones. For most of the systems flammable electrolytes are being used,” said Prof. 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. “A new generation of electrolytes may give the inflammable batteries,” he said.