Many of you may have read this great article by @alexpmorris discussing a new form of battery – the solid state battery that uses solid-glass electrolytes. Upon reading his article, I was reminded of another solid-state battery that was recently invented. This battery was the solid state polymer lithium metal battery, or as I call it, the Zimmerman Battery, which is named after its inventor, Mike Zimmerman.

Batteries always have had to deal with two problems – safety and storing energy. Solid state batteries can hold more energy than lithium ion batteries but were not safe to use. This is because structures called dendrites begin to form inside the battery over multiple uses. Grow the dendrites large enough and they will short circuit the battery and cause the electrolytes to combust. Lithium ion batteries had the opposite problem. They were safer but held much less energy. In addition, all batteries had scaling issues. One of the reasons why the Samsung Galaxy Note 7’s failure was that the lithium ion battery was thin, which necessitated a thin separator (for the anode and cathode), resulting in the batteries easily catching fire.



The Zimmerman battery solves these problems by using solid state polymer battery. These types of batteries use solid metal electrodes and electrolytes, allowing the battery to hold more energy while being extremely safe to use.



Cut a Zimmerman battery, and not only does it not become a fire breathing dragon, the battery will still function! The Zimmerman battery also solves a problem exclusive to solid state polymer batteries themselves. Previous versions of polymer batteries, such as the ones used in Tesla cars, could function only if they were pre-heated to impractically high temperatures.



The Zimmerman battery overcomes this by using a special polymer that Mr. Zimmerman developed. While the battery is still in development, we can expect to see Mr. Zimmerman’s new technology change the energy industry. Electric companies can better store energy during down times, electric cars can last longer, and our phones will finally not explode in our faces.

Sources

New York Times - Designing A Safer Battery For Smartphones (That Won't Catch Fire)

Ionic Materials (Mr. Zimmerman's Start-Up)

NOVA - New Damage-Proof Battery Has Higher Energy Density, Won't Explode

Also, thanks to PBS for helping me discover this new technology!