Round Ceiling Light,Circular Ceiling Light,Circular Led Ceiling Light,Round Ceiling Lamp Ningbo Royalux Lighting Co., Ltd. , https://www.royaluxlite.com
20% more battery power can be squeezed out like toothpaste
In the 1970s, researchers at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) were lounging on beanbag chairs, brainstorming ideas that would later spark the information technology revolution. Innovations like the computer mouse, graphical user interfaces, Ethernet, laser printers, and the concept of "Windows" all originated from this iconic lab. Though those beanbags are long gone and PARC was spun off as an independent company a decade ago, its legacy lives on. Today, the researchers are once again pushing boundaries—but this time, their focus is on clean energy.
PARC’s Hardware Systems Laboratory is now working on next-generation lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. Their goal: to create batteries that can store more than 20% more energy than conventional ones. But increasing storage capacity isn’t just about making the cathode bigger—it also means dealing with the challenge of ion movement. The thicker the cathode, the slower the ions flow, which can hurt performance and lead to sluggish acceleration.
To solve this, PARC is experimenting with a dual-material approach. One material is designed for high-density energy storage, while the other facilitates faster charge transfer. By alternating wide storage areas with narrow conductive pathways, they aim to build larger, more powerful batteries without sacrificing speed or efficiency.
This idea isn’t new, but scaling it up has been a challenge. The structures required—on the order of 100 microns for storage and 10 microns for conductivity—are incredibly small. Creating such precise patterns across hundreds of thousands of units demands expensive lithography techniques, which aren’t practical for mass battery production.
Inspired by something as simple as a color bar toothpaste, PARC’s team developed a novel solution. They mix two materials with an organic binder, creating a printable paste that’s fed through a printhead with tiny channels and nozzles. As the printhead moves over a metal foil, the paste is extruded in fine stripes, forming the cathode. After drying, most of the organic material is removed, leaving behind a solid, high-performance cathode.
In early tests, this method showed promising results. A test battery using this technique stored 20% more power than traditional versions. Scott Elrod, head of the lab, says they’re already in talks with potential partners to move forward with real-world testing.
Printing the cathode is just the start. PARC is now collaborating with the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E to develop a fully printed battery. This will involve five different pastes—two for each electrode, one for the separator, and another for a silver wire that helps draw current out. The silver paste also includes a heat-sensitive material that activates when the battery heats up, allowing for a much thinner wire (just 20 microns instead of 50). This reduces shading on solar cells, letting more sunlight reach the surface and improving efficiency.
With solar panels already being produced using this method, Elrod is looking ahead to other technologies, including fuel cells, supercapacitors, and even catalytic converters—each of which could benefit from this innovative printing process.
While the “squeezable battery†may never be a household name like the laser printer, it’s clear that the spirit of innovation that once defined PARC is alive and well. And for Xerox, that’s a very welcome sight.