NASA SPEARS: Solid-State Cells That Sleep Through the Lunar Night
NASA says its SPEARS solid-state cells survive −170 °C and work to −80 °C. What was actually tested, what the conference slides add, and what a lunar rover would need from the cell.
New Technology
Batteries Are the Backbone of the AI-Powered Future
1. The AI Brain Needs a Body — And That Body Needs Power We’ve spent decades building the “brains” of artificial intelligence—language models, perception systems, planning algorithms—but real-world deployment demands much more than code. Whether it’s a humanoid robot like Tesla Optimus, Figure, an autonomous delivery bot like Starship, or an AI-powered drone swarm, all … Read more
Liquid Immersion Cooling for Battery Packs
Direct liquid cooling, also known as immersion cooling, is an advanced thermal management method where battery cells are submerged directly into a dielectric coolant to dissipate heat efficiently. Unlike indirect cooling methods that use cold plates or tubing, immersion cooling eliminates thermal resistance between the battery and the cooling medium, enabling superior heat transfer performance … Read more
2025 Battery Roadmaps
A look at the 2025 Battery Roadmaps. Perhaps closer to describe this as a start of 2025 review of the latest battery roadmaps, research and funding directions that will shape the industry. Here we look at the four largest cell manufacturers and across the government funded research. The big themes are: As China pushes the … Read more
Mastering 12V Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) Batteries
Unravelling Benefits, Limitations, and Optimal Operating Voltage for Enhanced Energy Storage, by Christopher Autey In the ever-evolving landscape of renewable energy and advanced energy storage solutions, Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries have gained widespread acclaim for their exceptional performance, reliability, and versatility. Among these, the 12V LiFePO4 batteries have emerged as a popular choice for … Read more
Engineering Empty Space: Tailoring Battery Electrodes for Ion Transport
Author: Anton Resing: The cathode electrodes in a lithium-ion battery are a composite of solid charge storing particles, a polymeric binder, and a conductive additive. Together, they are well dispersed in a solvent and spread like paint on a conductive substrate, an effective and pleasingly simple solution that works across various chemistries and cell designs. … Read more
Proving new Chemistry
One of the fundamental steps in proving new chemistry is making small cells that can be reliably charged and discharged. These small cells are assembled in argon filled gloveboxes. They are small and very fiddly to assemble. However, they need to be precisely built to reduce variation in data caused from physical mis-alignment of electrodes which … Read more