Breakthrough Research Unveils True Cause of Battery Degradation

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers have upended what’s known about how rechargeable batteries function. Rechargeable battery performance could be improved by a new understanding of how they work at the molecular level. For decades, researchers have assumed that the inevitable filmy buildup on electrodes inside rechargeable batteries is the driver of performance loss. Research shows that view is backward. The research report has been published in Nature Energy. The buildup of mossy or tree-like structured lithium metal deposits…