Ultra-fast charging chip for battery safety check

Researchers at Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) in Singapore have developed a smart chip that monitors the state of the battery. This not only allows the charging time to be significantly reduced to less than 10 minutes, but also confirms the battery's health and safety. use.

The smart chip warns when the battery in the user's smart phone or electric car fails or there is a risk of fire. In contrast, the current warning system can only notify the user after the battery has been overheated or any remedial measures have been too late.

The chip of wisdom that Rachid Yazami, professor of energy research institute of Nanyang Technological University led and developed is quite small, can be embedded in almost all batteries.

Prof. Yazami is a pioneer in battery research. He was awarded the 2014 Draper Prize for Engineering by the National Academy of Engineers (NAE), honoring him as one of the three inventors of lithium-ion batteries. . The award recognizes his achievements in the 1980s to discover how to make lithium-ion batteries safe to charge, thus paving the way for today's widespread use.

“Although the risk of battery failure is low, but because of the billions of lithium-ion batteries that are produced each year, even a one-million chance may mean thousands of failures,” Professor Yazami explained. “This is Electric vehicles and even advanced aircraft pose serious risks, because large battery packs are usually loaded with hundreds or more battery cells in series, enough to power cars or aircraft.If one of the batteries fails to cause chemical substances to catch fire , it may cause the nearby battery to catch fire or even cause an explosion."

Prof. Yazami developed a proprietary algorithm based on electrochemical thermodynamic measurements embedded in a smart wafer.

This smart battery monitor chip is much smaller than a 10-cent coin

Existing lithium-ion batteries have a chip that can display their voltage and temperature readings. However, today's battery chips cannot detect the symptoms of functional failure and can only show the estimated amount of battery charge.

However, Professor Yazami's patented algorithm analyzes the battery's health status and charging status through 3D charts. On the display screen, it looks like a path down the hill from which to ski. Prof. Yazami said: “The 'ski route' when using new batteries looks different from the case of battery aging or malfunction, just like two fingerprints are different from each other.”

“In addition to knowing the aging condition of the battery, our technology can also tell the actual situation when the battery is charged, thus optimizing the charging process so that the battery can be maintained at its best while charging faster.” The current battery is charging Insufficient protection during the process has slowed the charging speed. Nowadays, new wafers will solve this problem and be fully charged within 10 minutes.

"It is expected that in the future, there will be such a wafer in every battery, which will reduce the risk of battery fire in electronic devices and electric vehicles, and at the same time prolong its service life."

Professor Yazami spent five years building this smart chip and is now being sold by its new KVI Pte Ltd. Another research scientist, Sohaib El Outmani, also assisted in this research. They jointly developed this smart wafer platform at the Energy Research Institute of Nanyang Technological University (ERIAN).

KVI was developed by NTUitive, a commercialization program of Nanyang Technological University. The company plans to develop this chip into a series of products, including battery packs for charging mobile devices, electric vehicle charging meters, and batteries for each battery. Wisdom chip.

The start-up company has obtained the exclusive authorization of Prof. Yazami's ETM technology based on his research at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), as well as the French National Research Center (CNRS).

The technology will be available to wafer manufacturers and battery manufacturers before the end of 2016.