The Age of Silicon Is Here…for Batteries

Breast battery augmentation! 😊 Pardon my pun! Apparently, various companies are still trying to figure out the best way!

"... Silicon has long held out promise as a medium for anodes, because it can hold 10 times as many lithium ions by weight as graphite. In fact, silicon’s first documented use as a lithium battery anode even predates that of graphite—by seven years. But experiments with that element have been plagued by technical challenges—including volume expansion of the anode when loaded with lithium ions and the resulting material fracture that can happen when an anode expands and contracts.

Now, however, after some 15 years of incremental improvements and dashed hopes, silicon’s time as a mainstay material in batteries has finally arrived. ...
In March, Amprius reported a silicon anode battery with a record-high certified energy density of 500 watt-hours per kilogram, about twice that of today’s EV batteries. Airbus and BAE Systems already use the company’s batteries in aircraft. ... Instead of engineering silicon nanoparticles and nanowires, the company deposits porous silicon films that are tens of micrometers thick directly on copper foil."

The Age of Silicon Is Here…for Batteries - IEEE Spectrum he mainstay material of electronics is now yielding better energy storage