A Battery That's Better Than Lithium-Ion and Doesn't Explode?

Batteries power so many of our electronic devices, including our laptops, smartphones, and in some cases, even our cars.

Lithium-Ion technology is the current standard for these kinds of consumer devices because it's a cost-efficient type of battery that's easy to manufacture and packs a lot of juice. On the other hand, while everything sounds fine and dandy so far, the only con is that they can sometimes become unstable and explode, as we've seen with the recent Samsung Galaxy Note 7 debacle.

It turns out that there's a very important layer in the Lithium-Ion battery that keeps the positive charge separated from the negative charge, and at times, it's possible for a short to develop in between these two charges, which causes the flames and sizzling.

This layer is a liquid electrolyte that allows electrons to pass from the positive to the negative side, but now battery research is considering dropping the liquid electrolyte in place of a far more stable glass electrolyte.

The benefits of this new type of battery are seemingly endless, resulting not only increased battery life and faster charging, but also eliminating that "explosion factor" that has been attributed to modern Lithium-Ion styled batteries.

It should be interesting to see what kind of battery technology will be powering your next generation of technological devices.