ETH Zurich spin-offs develop high performance batteries
(Photograph: BTRY / ETH Zurich)
April 29, 2024 – The ETH and Empa spin-off BTRY develops fast-charging batteries that are resistant to temperature fluctuations and suitable for a wide range of applications.
(Empa is the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology; ETHZ stand for Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich).
Conventional lithium-ion batteries of the sort currently used in smartphones and notebooks have a liquid electrolyte inside them. This makes the batteries sensitive to temperature fluctuations, meaning that they are easily inflammable at excessive temperatures, for example. Moreover, conventional batteries take some time to recharge. BTRY, has therefore developed a solid-state battery that consists of thin layers, which can shorten the charging time many times over. BTRY entirely forego liquids both during the manufacturing process and for the components of their battery. The solid-state batteries that are currently being developed by BTRY have the major advantage of being very resistant to temperature fluctuations. They can therefore be used both at very high temperatures, such as in sensors that detect vapour leaks, and at very low temperatures, for example during the transportation of medicines.
