From 804212f5618e46eb7b5c48134623c602173cf2a7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: westland Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2024 15:05:38 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] 1-1-24 --- content/stories/sony.md | 50 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 50 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/stories/sony.md diff --git a/content/stories/sony.md b/content/stories/sony.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bb1ffdc --- /dev/null +++ b/content/stories/sony.md @@ -0,0 +1,50 @@ ++++ +title = "Sony's Batteries" +date = 2023-10-21T20:28:09-05:00 +draft = false ++++ + + + +The cutting-edge of current energy storage technology +is the lithium-polymer battery that powers most smartphones, laptops, tablets and other consumer devices. +Lithium is the metal with lowest density and with the +greatest electrochemical potential and energy-to-weight +ratio, so in theory it would be an ideal material for batteries. And indeed, lithium battery technology had been +around for most of the 20th century. But the technology +really took off in the 1990s, in the wake of the demise +of another consumer technology – cassette audiotapes. + +The Japanese company Sony had, with Holland’s +Phillips, commercialized the Compact Disc (CD) technology for music in the 1980s; by 1990 CDs had completely replaced audio cassettes, and Sony found itself +with factories full of old, unusable equipment for making +magnetic tape for cassettes. Sony’s scientists searched +for another use for this equipment, settling on American +chemist John B. Goodenough’s invention of the LiCoO2 +battery cathode, and French research scientist Rachid +Yazami discovered the graphite battery anode. Sony +discovered that instead of coating polymer tape with +a magnetic film for data recording, they could coat it +with a goopy paste that turned it into one of Yazami +and Goodenough’s battery electrodes to create a longlasting, lightweight and powerful battery. In 1997, Sony +lightened its battery even further by throwing away the +metal battery casings, replacing them with a polymer +pouch made of material similar to the cassette tape +plastic. The lithium ion polymer (LiPo) battery was born. +These batteries held their electrolyte in a solid polymer +composite instead of a liquid solvent, and the electrodes +and separators are laminated to each other, allowing +the battery to be encased in a flexible wrapping instead +of a rigid metal casing. Such batteries could be specifically shaped to fit a particular device, which is particularly useful for smartphones, radio controlled aircraft and +consumer electronics with unique, idiosyncratic shapes. +Lithium ion technology advanced further, as it has +come to be a core automotive technology, largely +as a result of the success of Elon Musk’s Tesla autocompany. Tesla automobiles can extract greater acceleration than class-leading Ferraris from lithium ion battery packs weighing 990 pounds, storing 56 kWh of +electric energy and delivering up to 215 kW of electric power. These packs are built of 69 individual cells +wired in parallel to create bricks; 99 bricks connected +to create sheets, and 11 sheets inserted to create a +pack made up of 6,831 cells. Cell temperature levels +are maintained by a liquid-cooling system with sensors +within the pack monitored by the car’s software. Tesla +manufactured over half the world’s lithium ion batteries +in 2016. \ No newline at end of file