A new type of chemical can supply power to the lithium-air batteries - which has long suffered technological barriers - which can contribute to creating a product capable of standing up to gasoline in cars, investigators said.
Rechargeable batteries have been around for decades - the lithium ions that powers many mobile devices do 25 years in 2016 - but expand this technology for cars has proven difficult.
Researchers have spent years looking for a kind of battery called lithium-air or lithium-oxygen, which could provide 10 times more energy and possibly more than enough power density to compare with petrol, but they also have been the subject of practical problems.
As a final lithium-air battery remains at least a decade away, researchers at Cambridge University say they have patented a technology that overcomes some major obstacles.
Lead author of the research, Clare Grey, chemistry professor at the University of Cambridge, said that "significant achievement" of his team is making progress toward high capacity "as we take efficiency to numbers that compete with lithium-technology Current ion ".
As the technology is still at the laboratory stage, you can not compare it directly with the technologies currently available, said the scientist.
But the latest approach showed an increase of energy efficiency of up to 93%, and does so using a different chemical used in previous attempts: employing lithium hydroxide (LiOH) instead of lithium peroxide (Li2O2).
The demonstration was performed with a "highly porous carbon electrode, 'cute' made of graphene (including carbon sheets one atom thick) and additives that alter the chemical reactions at work in the battery, making it more stable and efficient, "said a statement from the University of Cambridge.
The result is another step on the road towards a more practical and efficient battery, said Grey.
"We are excited about the chemical, but also have a lot of work to do, especially to understand the mechanisms of this chemical and optimize it and work to get as close as possible to a more efficient system."
The article was published in the American journal Science.
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